IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


III 
III 


IM 


IL25  i  1.4 


1^ 


1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


'V- 


0 


.»* 


/A 


z 


'^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Tachnicai  and  Bibliographic  Notaa/Notaa  tachniquas  at  bibliographiquaa 


Tha  instituta  haa  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Paaturaa  of  thia 
copy  witich  may  ba  bibliographiealiy  uniqua. 
wiiich  may  ^«itar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  changa 
tha  uaual  maihod  of  filming,  ara  chacicad  balow. 


□    Colourad  covars/ 
Couvartura  da  couiaur 


I — I   Covara  damagad/ 


Couvartura  andommagia 


□   Covars  rastorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  raatauria  at/ou  pallicuMa 

□    Covar  titia  missing/ 
La  titra  d»  couvartura  manqua 

□    Colourad  mapa/ 
Cartas  gtegraphiquas  ft  couiaur 

□    Colourad  ink  (i.a.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 
Encra  da  couiaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  biaua  ou  noiral 

□   Colourad  plataa  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planchaa  at/ou  illustrationa  an  couiaur 


0 
D 


a 


D 


Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
Rali4  avac  d'autraa  documants 


Tight  binding  may  cauaa  shadows  or  distortion 
along  intarior  margin/ 

La  re  liura  sarria  paut  cauaar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
distorsion  la  long  da  la  marga  intiriaura 

Blank  laavas  addad  during  rastoration  may 
appaar  vi<  Mt  tha  taxt.  Whanavar  possibia,  thasa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
II  sa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagaa  bianchas  ajoutias 
lors  d'una  raatauration  apparaiaaant  dans  la  taxta. 
mala,  lorsqua  caia  itait  possibia.  cas  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  *ti  filmias. 

Additional  commants:/ 
Commantairas  supplimantairas: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm*  la  maillaur  axamplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  iti  possibia  da  sa  procurar.  Las  details 
da  cat  axamplaira  qui  sont  paut-Atra  uniquas  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographiqua.  qui  pauvant  modif  iar 
una  imaga  raproduita,  ou  qui  pauvant  axigar  una 
modification  dans  la  mithoda  normala  da  filmaga 
sont  indiquto  ci-daasous. 


r~n   Colourad  pagary 


Pagaa  da  couiaur 

Pagaa  damagad/ 
Pagaa  andommagias 


□   Pagaa  rastorad  and/or  laminaxai^/ 
Pagaa  rastaur^as  at/ou  palliculAas 

Q    Pagaa  discoloured,  stainad  or  foxad/ 
Pagaa  dicolorMs,  tachatias  ou  piqui 


D 


Pagaa  dicolorMs,  tachatias  ou  piquias 

Pagaa 

Pagaa  ditachAas 

Showthrough/ 
Tranaparanca 

Quality  of  prir 

QualitA  inAgala  da  I'imprassion 

Ineludas  supplamantary  matarii 
Comprand  du  material  suppi^mantaira 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seula  Mition  diSQonibia 


r~n  Pagaa  detached/ 

r~]  Showthrough/ 

r~n  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

|~~1  Includes  supplamantary  material/ 

rn  Only  edition  available/ 


Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  ate,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  bast  possibia  image/ 
Lee  pages  totalament  ou  partieilement 
ouscurcies  par  un  fauillat  d'arrata,  una  pelure, 
etc..  ont  itt  filmies  i  nouveau  da  fapon  A 
obtanir  la  meillaure  imaga  possible. 


This  itam  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  chackad  balow/ 

Ca  document  est  film*  au  taux  da  rAduction  indiqui  ci-dassous 

10X                   14X                   itx                   ax 

26X 

30X 

1 

i 
1 

1 

y 

1 
1 

'x2X 

16X 

aox 

24X 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  film«d  hcra  has  b««n  rtproducMi  thanks 
to  th«  ganarotlty  of: 

UnivtraM  da  Montrtel 

Tho  images  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacifications. 


Original  copias  In  printad  papar  covars  ara  fllmad 
beginning  whh  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliuatratad  Impras- 
slon,  or  tha  bacic  covar  whan  appropriata.  Ail 
othar  original  copias  ara  fllmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliuatratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  iiiustratad  imprassion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^-(moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  ▼  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  applias. 

Maps.  p|j=)tf;A.  chatts.  ate,  may  ba  fllmad  at 
diffarant  radincuon  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antlraly  included  in  ona  axposura  ara  fllmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  cornar.  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


1 

2 

3 

L'exemplaira  filmi  f ut  raproduit  grica  A  la 
g4niroaMda: 

UniMrtit«  dt  MontrM 

Les  Images  suhrantee  ont  At4  raproduites  evec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compta  tenu  do  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattetA  de  rexempiaire  filmi,  at  en 
conformM  evec  les  conditions  du  contrst  de 
fiimege. 

Les  exempiairas  originaux  dont  la  couveiture  en 
papier  est  imprimis  sont  filmis  en  commen^ant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'iiluatration,  soit  per  le  second 
plot,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  las  eutree  exemplairee 
c.iginaux  sont  fllmis  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impreeeion  ou  d'iiluetretion  et  en  terminent  per 
le  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symboies  suhrents  apparaltra  sur  la 
darniire  Image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
ces:  le  symbols  — »>  eignifle  "A  8UIVRE",  le 
symbols  ▼  eignifle  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  plenchee,  tabiaeux,  etc.,  peuvent  itre 
fllmis  i  dee  teux  de  riductlon  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  eet  trop  grand  pour  itre 
reproduit  en  un  eeul  clichi,  11  eet  filmi  i  partir 
de  i'engle  supirleur  gauche,  de  gauche  i  drolte. 
et  de  haut  en  bee,  en  prenent  le  nombre 
d'Imegee  nicessaire.  Les  diegremmes  suh/cnts 
lllustrent  le  mithode. 


32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

J 


f 


i^tmammmimttm 


\ 


..5^ 


/ 


OFFICIAL  REPORT 


ov 


b      GEN.  JOHN  O'NEILL, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  FENIAN  BBOTHERHOOD  ; 


ON  THE  AHEMPT  TO  INVADE  CANADA, 


MATim.,  1870. 


TIm  pieparations  therefor,  and  the  cause  of  its  failure,  with  a  sketch 
^    of  his  connection  with  the  Organization,  and  the  motives 
which  led  him  to  join  it : 


bM'^ 


•^% 


A  REPOET  OP 
THE  BATTLE  OP  RIDGEWAY,  CANADA  TVEST, 


SOtJOBT  JTJNH  2nd,  1866,  BT  COIiONEL  bookeb,  oommandino  thh  qttebn's 
OWN,   Ain>  OTHEK  CANADIAN  TBOOFS,   AND  COIiONEIi  JOHN 
O'NEUJi,  COHMANDINa  THB  FENIANa 


NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN   J.   FOSTER, 

612  Bboadwat. 

1870. 


msw^^^^si^^s^s^'^f- 


Entered  aecorcUng  to  act  of  OongreH  In  the  year  1870.  by 
JOHK  J.  TOSTEB, 

I 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Oongrees  at  Washington. 


REPORT  OF  GENERAL  JOHN  O'NEILL, 

PRESIDENT  OP  THE  FENIAN  BROTHERHOOD, 

On  the  attempt  to  invade  Cajiada,  May  25th,  1870,  the  'pr&para- 
tions  therefor,  and  the  cause  of  its  failurt,  with  a  sketch  of 
his  connection  toith  the  Organization,  and  the  motives  which 
led  him  to  join  it. 


In  JtiL  M  BuBUiiaToir,  Vt.,  Jfun*  as/A,  1870. 
To  the  officers  and  mmnbers  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  and  the  friends  of  hisKlJiib- 
erly  geMToily : 

Obntlemzh  :— Since  I  last  had  the  honor  to  address  you,  an  important  event 
in  t]t8  history  of  the  Organization  has  occurred  :  and  judging  from  the  general 
tenor  of  newspaper  reports,  the  man  whom  you  then  most  trusted,  has,  for  the 
time,  lost  your  confidence.  While  I  may  bo  grieved  at  this,  still,  conscious  of 
having  performed  my  whole  duty  as,  far  as  in  me  lay,  I  have  nothing  to  regret 
in  the  past,  excepting  that  those  whose'co-operation  I  had  looked  for,  so  utterly 
failed  to  keep  their  solemn  pledges.  Whatever  I  have  done  in  connection  with 
the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  was  done  for  Ireland,  from  conviction,  and  not  to 
please  any  particular  class  of  persons.  If,  under  similar  circumstances,  an- 
other leader  would  have  done  better,  I  have  only  to  regret  that  I,  and  not  he, 
had  been  selected.  You  are  well  aware  that  far  from  seeking  official  position 
in  the  Brotherhood,  it  was  thrust  upon  me  in  violence  to  my  wishes.  Having 
often  received  your  applause  for  an  act  possessing  little  intrinsic  meri\,  perhaps 
it  is  not  strange  that  my  acts  of  real  merit  should  be  misunderstood  and  con- 
demned. Of  this,  however,  you  may  be  assured,  I  labored  arduously  and  suc- 
cessfully in  preparing  the  Organization  for  the  field,  had  the  arms  and  war 
material  in  the  proper  place  at  the  proper  time,  and  if  the  men  were  not  on 
hand  to  do  the  fighting,  the  fault  was  not  miue.  Success  or  failure  is  not  a  fair 
criterion  on  which  to  form  one's  judgment,  and  yet  you  must  own  that  it  is 
thus  you  have  formed  your  unfavorable  opinion  of  me  in  relation  to  the  late  at- 
tempted invasion  of  Canada. 

'  A  firm  believer  in  steel  as  tliti  cure  of  Irish  grievances,  I  was  attracted  to  the 
ranks  of  the  O'ganization  for  no  other  reason  than  it  proposed  such  a  remedy. 
It  was  not,  however,  until  the  plan  of  invading  Canada  was  adopted,  that  I 


^iK^uU^, 


4  Official  Bkport  of 

becftme  a  member,  for  I  considered  the  direct  invasion  of  Ireland  wholly  im- 
practicable, while  England  remained  at  peace  with  her  neighbors.  Canada 
once  gained,  wonld  serve  as  an  excellent  base  of  operations  against  the  enemy  ; 
and  its  acquisition  did  not  seem  too  great  an  undertaking,  from  the  number, 
strength,  anu  resources  of  our  people  on  the  American  Continent  There  was, 
too,  an  army  of  veteran  Irish  soldiers  but  just  disbanded  by  the  close  of  civil 
conflict  in  the  United  States,  that  were  ready  and  anxious  to  be  led  to  battle  for 
their  country.  As  to  the  propriety  of  invading  Canada,  I  have  always  had  but 
one  opinion  :  Canada  is  a  prpvinco  c  Great  Britain  ;  the  English  flag  floats 
over  it  and  English  soldiers  protect  it,  and,  I  think,  wherever  the  English  flag 
and  English  soldiers  are  found.  Irishmen  have  a  right  to  attack.  In  striking  at 
England  through  Canada  we  Dttempted  no  more  than  was  done  b^'  the  Ameri- 
can Bepublio  in  the  war  of  the  Bevolution. 

The  movement  of  1866,  for  two  causes,  either  one  of  which  had  beon  sufficient, 
resulted  disastrously.  The  men  failed  to  be  on  the  ground  in  available  num- 
bers at  the  appointed  time,  and  those  who  did  arrive  were  unprovided  with  arms 
and  ammunition  ;  various  reasons  were  assigned  for  these  two  grave  mishaps, 
some  correct,  others  incorrect,  but  nearly  all  reflecting  on  the  capacity  aud 
management  of  the  then  commanding  general,  T.  W.  Sweeny.  The  charges 
then  made  against  General  Sweeny  have  since  been  repeated,  but  with  mce 
bitterness,  against  ntyself.  In  a  movement  like  ours,  if  unsuccessful,  it  aeems 
inevitable  that  some  one  has  to  be  made  the  victim.  Disappointed  patriots 
then  fail  to  remember  that  the  leader  can  only  issue  orders  and  instructions, 
and  that  prompt  compliance  therewith  becomes  their  dutv.  Though  the  at- 
tempt be  foiled  by  their  neglect  to  carry  out  his  orders,  they  are  none  the  less 
quick  to  heap  ignominy  on  his  head,  forgetful  ot  the  fact  that  they  themselves 
were  the  chief  authors  of  disaster  by  their  criminal  inactivity.  In  the  move- 
ment uf  1866  I  occupied  a  cubordinate  position,  whose  duties  I  performed  to 
the  best  of  my  ability.  On  the  failure  of  the  general  plan  of  campaign  I  re- 
turned, as  soon  as  released  by  the  Federal  authorities,  to  my  home  in  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee.  Then,  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  I  labored  quietly  in  the 
ranks  to  prepare  another  eSbrt,  without  a  thought  of  official  connection  with 
the  Brotherhood.  On  the  let  of  January,  1868,  Col.  W.  B.  Boberts  resigned 
At  the  earnest  soUcitation  of  P.  J.  Meehan  and  the  other  leading  men  of  the 
Organization,  and  on  their  representations  to  me  that  the  very  existence  of  the 
Fenian  Brotherhood  depended  on  my  action,  I  was  induced  to  become  its 
president,  not,  however,  before  I  had  exacted  from  the  Senate  of  F.  B.  (fifteen 
in  number,)  a  solemn  promise  that  they  would  unite  with  me  in  preparing  for 
a  fight  that  year.  My  labors  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1868  in  address- 
ing private  and  public  mv°>etings  throughout  the  country  and  in  attending  at 
State  Conventions  from  Maine  to  Minnesota,  are  well  known  to  you.  I  was  ably 
seconded  in  this  work  by  the  organizing  corps,  and  also  received  some  assist- 
ance from  the  then  vice  president  of  the  F.  B.,  James  Gibbons — a  man  whose 
enthusiastic  temperament  and  lack  of  judgment  often  betrayed  him  into  mak- 
ing promises  of  a  speedy  fight  wholly  unwarranted,  by  the  state  of  our  prepara- 
tions. This  gentleman  has  since,  however,  grown  profoundly  wise,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  P.  J.  Meehan,  the  evil  genius  of  Fenianism,  was  greatly  instru- 
mental in  bringing  about  the  recent  failure — rule  or  ruin  being  the  motto  of 
himeelf  and  his  master.     Others  of  the  Senators,  instead  of  giving  me  the 


^i 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada.  5 

assistanoe  promised,  mnde  nse  of  their  official  position  in  the  Organization  to 
advance  themselves  politically,  and  are  now  occupying  lacrative  pclitical  offices 
which  they  could  never  ha>o  otherwise  obtained.  To  such  parties  it  was  quite 
conveniert  to  continue  patriotic  Fenians  for  an  indefinite  period.  Before  at- 
taining r.iflce  they  were  enthusiastic  for  an  early  movement  against  the  enemy, 
but,  this  point  gained,  they  suddenly  changed  their  tactics  and  grew  hot  ad  ^o- 
catoe  of  slow  and  cautious  measures.  Without  the  honesty  or  manhood  to 
leave  the  Organization  and  openly  denounce  its  schemes  as  impracticable,  they 
remained  apparently  faithful  to  the  cause,  but  at  the  same  time  knew  how  to 
sow  the  seeds  of  dissension  and  distrust,  and  to  vilify  those  who  had  embarked 
their  whole  fortunes  in  the  undertaki>ig.  This  they  did,  to  paralyze  the  efforts 
of  earnest  men  and  to  keep  the  Brotherhood  as  a  mere  machine  to  help  them 
in  W'  -king  out  their  own  political  plans  and  purposes.  The  liberation  of 
Irel:  through  an  invasion  of  Canad-i  had  not  me  for  its  author  ;  and  I  ver^ 
xpuoh  question  if  its  originators  had  not  lost  all  faith  in  it  after  the  fkilare  of 
iLu  movement  of  1866.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  was  the  plan  given  me  to  execute 
by  these  men ;  nr.d  believing  in  its  feasibility,  I  devoted  my  entire  energies 
to  rendering  it  suooessfuL  For  this,  two  things  seemed  to  me  absolutely 
necessary,  viz.,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  war  material  seoretly  deposited  at  the 
several  strategic  points  near  the  border,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to 
take  that  war  material  across  the  border  before  the  Federal  authorities  could 
interfere. 

The  movement  once  inaugurated  on  Canadian  soil,  I  fblt  that  thousands 
of  Irishmen  would  rush  to  our  aid  ;  and  hence,  that  it  was  my  duty  to  prepare 
to  strike  the  first  blow  successfully,  and  confide  in  the  patriotism  of  my  coun- 
trymen to  do  the  rest.  Two  years  and  a  half  of  my  life  were  devoted  to  this 
preparation.  Having  but  one  object  in  view  in  becoming  a  Fenian  or  accepting 
official  position  in  the  Organization,  and,  as  far  as  my  personal^nterests  were 
concerned,  with  everytlung  to  lose  and  nothing  to  gain,  I  was  Tieterjiined  to 
test  the  practicobility  of  the  movement,  for  at  best  it  was  but  an  experiment. 
I  wan  painfully  aware  that  the  longer  we  waited,  (he  less  confidence  would  the 
Organization  and  the  Irish  people  generally  have  in  our  ability  to  succeed : 
and  besides,  the  thousands  of  our  countrymen  who.participated  in  the  late  war, 
were  fast  settling  down  in  life,  and  if  we  deferred  matters  much  longer,  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  to  secure  a  sufficient  number  of  veteran  soldiers  for 
the4)roper  inauguration  of  the  movement. 

Tho  Senate,  or  rather  the  master  spirit  of  that  body,  P.  J.  Meehan,  finding 
that  I  was  really  in  earnest,  went  to  work  in  his  own  peculiar  style  to  foil  my 
efforts  by  seeking  to  destroy  my  influence  with  the  Organization  and  ruining 
my  character.  No  Irishman  in  America  is  better  qualified  for  such  honorable 
work  ;  and  no  one  had  better  facilities,  havj'xg  his  own  organ,  the  Irish  Ameri- 
can, with  the  Vhlled  Irishman  and  the  Irish  Bepiibllc  to  support  his  malignant 
assaults.  In  this  attack  upon  me,  he  found  willing  tools  in  many  of  his 
confreres  in  the  Senate.  They  threw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  move- 
ment that  might  retard  it,  while  they  sought  to  fix  on  me  all  the  responsibility 
of  delay,  and  thus  hurt  my  character  and  bring  the  Organization  to  look  on  them 
as  the  only  parties  worthy  its  confidence. 

I  will  here  state  that  my  first  call  for  a  Congress  to  meet  in  New  York,  April 
19th,  1870,  and  some  of  the  subsequent  circulars  were  intended  to  deceive  the 


S(»lh-*3t^4b  „  .-*.^-,^.js«^  ..r... 


.  J^e^«£2afi<i^^u^^^l 


'W''yi^^f'^:-'g;^^^^^$¥  '^pxf*\^^jl?^n}y^-» 


e 


OFncuL  BBroBT  of 


American  trnd  Canadian  goTeraments  aa  to  oar  real  intentioiu.  I  intended  to 
make  a  move  before  the  convening  of  the  above  Congress,  bat  ooald  not  make 
that  fact  known  to  all  the  members  of  the  Senate,  as  I  had  reason  to  fear  that 
some  of  them  would  betray  the  secret  Richard  McGloud,  one  of  thcHO  political 
Senators,  happened  to  learn  my  parpose,  and,  as  it  served  his  interest  to  delay 
matters,  forthwith  commanioated  the  affair  to  the  newspapers — hence  the  score 
across  the  border  in  April  lost.  At  every  step  in  my  preparations  I  had  to  en- 
counter the  most  stubborn  and  persistent  opposition  from  Mr.  Meehon  and  his 
friends,  who,  while  clamoring  for  a  forward  movement  and  passing  resolu- 
tions to  that  effeot — (see  resolutions  sent  to  circles  by  the  Senate  daring  the 
past  two  years) — were  privately  doing  all  in  their  power  to  fhistrate  the  efforts 
made  by  me  in  the  direction  of  a  fight.  Daring  the  past  winter  months  com- 
petent and  reliable  men,  Colonels  Henry  Le  Caron  and  William  Clingen  were 
employed  in  locating  our  arms,  etc.,  at  convenient  points  along  the  border,  and 
when  everything  was  on  the  eve  of  completion,  I  galled  n  Congress  of  the 
Brotherhood  to  meet  in  New  York,  March  8th,  1870.  In  this  call  I  had  to  in- 
dicate too  clearly  the  object  of  the  previous  call.  The  time  for  assembling  the 
General  Congress,  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution,  hexl  been  suffered  to 
pass,  as  it  was  the  opinion  of  P.  J.  Meehan,  James  Oibbons,  myself,  and  such 
others  of  the  Senators  as  I  could  advise  with,  that,  instead  of«oonvening  the 
regular  Congress,  we  should  go  on  with  our  preparations.  Besides,  the  re- 
moval of  the  munitions  of  war  which  was  then  proceeding,  required  a  degree  of 
secrecy  that  would  have  been  endangered  by  the  open  disoufision  of  delegates ;  and 
no  subsequent  Congress  could  be  brought  together  in  strict  accordance  with  tho 
Constitution  of  the  F.  B.  It  was  my  intention  to  lay  a  full  and  complete  state- 
ment of  the  condition  and  resources  of  the  Organization  before  the  delegates, 
and  appeal-to  them  to  furnish  the  means  necessary  to  perfect  our  arrangements 
— breech-loa^g  ammunition  being  the  principal  article  needed.  Mr.  Meehan 
&  Go.  were,  Oowever,  determined,  if  possible,  to  pravent  the  assembling  of  the 
delegates,  as  they  quite  well  knew^  that  the  Congress  would  famish  all  that 
the  Senate  had  previously  declared  to  be  necessary  for  the  inauguration  of  tho 
movement  Letters  received  from  every  side  fully  indicated  that  the  approach- 
ing  Fenian  Congress  would  be  far  thie  largest  ever  gathered  together,  and  would 
by  its  decided  action  remove  every  pretext  for  farther  delay  in  taking  the  field. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Senate  held  in  February  last,  it  was  therefore  resolved  to 
forbid  the  assembling  of  the  delegates,  and  orders  to  that  effect  were  issued  on 
the  28th  of  that  month,  with  the  information  added,  that  they  would  soon  call  a 
Congress  of  their  own.  They  had  previously  carried  off  the  books  of  the  Broth- 
erhood to  the  apartment  of  Bichard  McCloud,  where  their  session  was  held  on 
Sunday,  the  27th  of  February,  under  pretence  of  vacating  their  rooms  at  head- 
quarters for  the  use  of  the  military  officers  of  the  district ;  bat  in  reality  to  get 
possession  of  said  books  and  papers  preparatory  to  breaking  up  the  Organiza- 
tion and  establishing  one  of  their  own.  Their  scheme  was  to  have  a  Congress 
got  together  in  some  far-off  Western  city,  whither  the  circles  in  the  Eastern 
States  would  be  nnwilling,  on  account  of  expense,  to  send  delegates,  and  where 
they  might  have  a  sufficient  number  of  adherents  to  carry  out  their  projects,  or, 
fisdling  in  that,  effectually  destroy  and  disrupt  the  Organization.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  all  the  Senators  were  not  aware  of  the  designs  of  Mr.  Meehan,  and 
it  is  no  easy  matter  to  measure  the  man  accorately,  as  no  one  can  play  the  hy- 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada.  '^ 

pocrite  with  more  taking  simplicity.  The  insane  attempt  on  the  life  of  ]fr. 
Meehan  oocnrring  the  some  evening  on  which  he  and  bis  satellites  determined 
to  forbid  the  attendance  of  the  delegates  at  the  approaching  Gobgicss,  and  to 
call  one  of  their  own  instead— an  attempt  regretted  by  none  more  than  myself, 
in  spite  of  the  lying  insinuations  of  Meehan  and  his  firiends— placed  me  in  an 
extremely  embarrassing  position.  It  was  then  a  generally  well  known  fact 
that,  since  the  Philadelphia  Congress  of  NoTember,  1868,  the  greater  portion  of 
the  funds  of  the  Organization  had  passed  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  Meehan,  as 
he  had  entire  control  of  the  factory  and  of  the  payments  made  for  the  altera- 
tions of  arms.  The  amount  of  money  so  expended  was  a  cause  of  great  dis- 
satisfaction  in  the  Organization,  as  it  reached  a  sum  nearly  double  that  re- 
ported by  Mr.  Meehan,  as  necessary  at. the  Philadelphia  Congress.  Under 
such  circumstances,  I  felt  it  would  not  be'just  to  the  latter  to  hare  a  Congress 
meet  and  pass  upon  his  accounts,  while  he  was,  for*anght  we  knew  to  the  con- 
trary, on  his  death-bed.  Up  to  that  hour,  I  had  received  no  written  report 
from  Mr.  Meehan,  and  his  verbal  reports  had  been  loose  and  unsatisfactory. 
Subsequently,  the  clerk  of  the  Senate  sent  me  a  copy  of  what  purported  to  be 
a  partial  report,  which  had  probably  been  approved  by  that  body.  I  will  ven- 
ture the  assertion,  however,  that  there  is  not  a  business  man  in  the  country 
who  would  accept  it,  as  in  any  sense  a  satisfactory  report  for  the  expenditure  of  so 
much  money.  It  is  a  little  strange  that  a  man  who  has  vet  himself  up  as  a  mo- 
del patriot,  the  guardian  of  the  hard  earned  money  of  our  people,  and  tl^ e  strict 
accountant  of  every  cent  of  Fenian  money  that  passed  through  the  hands  of 
others,  should  be  so  lax  in  dealing  with  himself.  Mr.  Meehan's  accounts  and 
vouchers  for  the  expenditure  of  over  sixty  thousand  dollars  of  this  same  hard- 
eamed*money,  have  not,  as  yet,  to  my  knowledge,  been  subjected  to  an  exam- 
ination. Will  the  white-washing  committee  that  reported  on  this  matter  at  the 
Convention  held  in  Chicago  last. April,  have  the  hardihood  to  assert  that  they 
examined  a  single  one  of  Mr.  Meehan's  vouchers  ?  and,  if  they  did  not,  will 
they  be  kind  enough  to  inform  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  what  documents,  or 
evidence  of  any  kind,  were  submitted  to  them  that  will  go  to  justify 
them  in  the  report  they  made?  But  I  forget;  Messrs.  Hynes  and 
McCIoud  were  there  ;  it  would  be  queer  if  evidence  should  be  wanting, 
with  their  inventive  fancy  to  call  on.  It  is  curious,  however,  that  nune  of  the 
numerous  Financial  Committees  of  the  Senate  examined  his  accounts.  Mr. 
Meehan  stated  that  he  had  the  vouchers,  or,  at  least,  the  greater  portion  of 
them,  in  hie  possession  when  the  Congress  met  in  New  York,  but,  being  handed 
into  that  body  shor  Jy  before  its  a4)oumment,  they  were  referred  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  F.  B.,  and,  as  they  never  afterwards  met,  no  action  was 
ever  taken  with  regard  to  those  vouchers.  I  would  now  respectfully  suggest 
that  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  next  Congress  investigate  this  matter,  and 
that  Mr.  E.  A.  Cole,  the  foreman  of  the  factory,  and  J.  P.  B  •  •  *  •  •  ,  the  as- 
sistant secretary  of  the  treasury  and  book-keeper  during  most  of  the  time  that 
Mr.  Meehan  was  drawing  money,  be  called  upon  to  assist  them  in  their  labors. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  Mr.  Meehaa  can  submit  a  vefy  plausible  report,  since 
he  is  quite  as  expert  in  white-washin{;  as  in  defaiaation  ;  still,  it  will  do  no 
harm  to  have  his  vouchers  examined,  that  it  may  be  known  to  whom  and  for 
what  purposes  so  much  money  was  paid  out    As  one  who  labored  unweariedly 


wi<w^t 


i,fvfmsmimmmtm*^ 


li 


.    Opfioial  Eetort  Of 


nigbt  «nd  day  in  collecting  most  of  this  money,  I  may  be  pardoned  the  d*- 
Rire  to  find  out  how  it  woh  expended. 

But  to  return.  The  Benate  had  now  in  itH  posHeHHion  the  important  books 
and  papers  of  the  organization,  and  wore,  as  I  know,  determined  to  retain 
them.  The  unfortunate  attempt  on  the  life  uf  Mr.  Meehan  would  serve  them 
08  a  pretext  to  reftise  attendance  on  the  Congress  called  by  me.  Under  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  I  deemed  it  most  expedient  to  unite  with  the  Benate 
in  the  coll  for  a  Congress  to  be  hold  at  Chicago,  His.,  April  11th,  1870,  being 
under  the' impression  that  the  Senate,  in  compUance  with  the  professed  desire 
oi  Mr.  Meehan,  would  act  in  accord  with  me  in  carrying  out  the  olb-declared 
mission  of  the  Brotherhood.  No  sooner,  however,  had  I  Joined  in  the  call, 
(which  was  written  by  one  of  themselves,  P.  W.  Dunne,  and  contained  f  ful- 
some enlogium  on  Mr.  Meehan,)  than  the  friends  of  the  latter  commenced  a 
bitter  and  vindictive  assault  upon  my  character,  which  he  and  they  have  con- 
tinued to  this  day.  This  display  of*  petty  malice  proved  to  me  at  ouoe  that  far 
from  aiding,  they  would  throw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  fight.  I  then 
decided,  nfter  receiving  assurances  of  assistance  firom  parties,  who  subse- 
quently, however,  grew  less  zealous,  to  carry  out  the  original  plan  of  invading 
Canada  before  the  19th  of  April,  and,  in  the  meantime,  to  deceive  enemies  aad 
traitors  alike,  kept  up  a  show  of  preparing  for  the  Congress  already  called. 
Unfortunately,  few  of  our  people  will  bestir  themselves  until  they  are  fully  let 
into  the  secret ;  and,  on  the  present  occasion,  to  procure  the  needed  help,  I 
had  to  moke  known  my  plans  to  so  many  that  the  enemy  got  wind  of  what  I 
was  about.  I  was  thus  compelled  to  abandon  for  a  time  a  forward  movement, 
and  was  forced  into  the  Congress  held  at  New  York,  April  19th,  1870.  As  I 
expected  to  be  in  quite  a  dffferent  quarter  when  this  Congress  should  convene, 
I  had  made  no  preparations  for  it,  and  had,  in  fact,  prevented  many  circles 
from  sending  on  delegates.  Though  the  attendance  was  thus  not  so  Istge  as  it 
might  have  been,  the  Organizaijon  was  quite  fairly  represented.  Nearly  all  the 
letters  then  received,  indicated  that  the  Organization  demanded  and  would  sus- 
tain an  immediate  movement.  The  Senate  party  had  previously  met  in  Chicago. 
That  honorable  body,  or,  at  least,  the  portion  of  it  preHont,  to  wit,  James  Gib- 
bons, Wm.  J.  Hynes,  Bichard  McCloud,  and  P.  W.  Duime,  true  to  their  nat- 
ural instincts,  and  ambitious  to  excel  their  master,  exhausted  the  calendar  of 
crimes  in  their  effort  to  bring  disgrace  on  the  President  of  the  Fenian  Brother- 
hood, and  cloak  their  own  treason.  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  the 
charges  preferred,  and  the  evidence  adduced  to  establish  them,  are  pure  fabrica- 
tions. In  spite  of  the  great  ado  made  in  the  newspapers,  very  few  of 'the 
circles  attached  to  the  organization  sent  delegates  to  Chicago.  Now,  however, 
the  men  there  elected  to  official  position,  very  modestly  claim  to  be  the  sole  and 
only  representatives  of  the  Brotherhood.  They  profess  to  have  broken  up  the 
old  Organization  and  built  a  new  one  out  of  the  ruins.  'After  forming  a  Oot- 
eming  Council  of  nine,  they  appointed  a  special  committee  of  three  to  attend 
the  Congress  called  by  me  in  New  York,  and  insisted  that  the  Constitution 
adopted  by  them  in  Chicago,  should  be  accepted  by  us  without  the  least  mod- 
ification or  change.  This  insulting  proposition  was,  of  course,  rejected.  My 
re-election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  F.  B.,  then  followed,  which  I  accepted  on 
the  express  understanding  that  I  should  go  on  perfectly  free  and  untramelled 
in  the  work  of  preparing  the  Organization  for  a  fight.     The  Financial  Commit- 


nr-L^l^. 


&^i^ 


The  Attbmpted  Invabiom  of  Oamaoa. 


9 


t««  of  the  GongnM  recommended  that  thirty  thooiond  dollara  be  collected 
within  Beren  days  to  meet  contingent  ezpensee,  and  complete  our  preparation*. 
About  two  thousand  dollars  of  this  sum  was  paid  into  the  treosu.y:  before  I  left 
New  Yoric.  I  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to  wait  tho  culloction  of  the  full 
amount,  as  I  was  satisfied,  as  soon  as  we  advanced  across  the  border  and  took 
up  a  position  there,  all  the  money  needed  for  breeoh-looding  ammunition,  tho 
priucipiU  deficiency,  would  be  forthcoming.  All  the  necessary  arrangements 
had  been  made  for  the  delivery  of  ammunition  according  as  it  was  purchased. 
About  this  time  Gen.  John  H.  Oleeson,  of  Virginia,  came  to  sue  me,  as  he  said, 
to  make  inquiries  about  tho  Organization,  and  to  ascertain  if  we  meant  to  fight ; 
and  on  karuing  that  such  was  our  purpose ,  and  that  the  only  thing  particularly 
deficient  was  brooch-loading  ammunition,  offered  on  the  spot  to  advance  ten 
thousand  dollars,  and  soon  after,  at  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  District  of 
Manhattan,  renewed  the  offer,  and  added  five  thousand  more,  but  after  a 
few  days  during  which  he  claimed  to  be  negotiating  his  farm  in  Virginia  for 
Vew  York  property,  he,  to  the  surprise  of  some  few,  changed  his  mind  as  to 
the  donation.  I  must  now  regard  his  ofifer  as  a  piece  of  braggadocio  quite  in 
keeping  with  his  subsequent  conduct  along  the  border,  whore  ho  and  his 
"staff"  and  "detectives,"  figured  quite  prominently  during  the  excitement 

Some  time  before  tho  movement  was  actually  inaugurated,  the  efforts  of  the 
Senate  to  demoralize  the  Organization  in  sowing  the  seeds  of  dissension,  had 
begun  to  have  effect  Somo  of  the  men  who  had  previously  expressed  the 
greatest  impatience  for  a  fight  now  that  it  was  at  hand,  were  most  active  in 
their  opposition.  These  worthies,  though  they  had  boasted  often  uad  loud 
of  their  desire  to  die  battling  for  Ireland,  as  the  hour  approached  to  realize 
their  boast,  showed  a  manifest  inclination  to  snuff  the  battle  afar  off,  and 
anxiously  looked  for  an  excuse  to  cover  up  their  cowardice.  The  action  of  the 
Senate  furnished  them  with  that  excuse.  We  hope  they  are  satisfied  with 
themselves  ;  they  can  now,  at  least,  talk  away  to  their  hoarts'  content  of  their 
valorous  impulses  without  any  fear  of  having  them  soon  brought  to  a  test  in  a 
fight  for  Ireland. 

The  military  men  who  were  ordered  to  put  themsolvea  in  readiness  to  move 
previous  to  the  sitting  of  the  Congress,  were  now  becoming  very  impatient, 
especially  those  in  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Boston.  This  was  not  to-be 
wondered  at  as  many  of  them  had  given  up  their  occupations,  while  the  civil 
members  of  the  two  former  cities  had  fallen  away  greatly  from  the  zeal  and 
activity  displayed  by  them  during  the  Congress.  Much  of  the  discontent  >>ud 
apathy  which  prevailed  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
constitutional  fault-finding  of  a  miserable  fellow  just  elected  to  the  post  of 
Vice  President  of  the  Fenian  .Brotherhood.  His  sole  ambition  seemed  to  be, 
to  have  matters  so  arranged  as  to  have  himself  recognized  the  head  and  front 
of  Fenianism  in  my  absence.  Unhappily,  it  has  occurred  but  too  frequently 
in  the  Organization,  that  members  were  willing  to  sacrifice  the  cause  to  advance 
their  own  interests.  To  satisfy  his  petty  ambition  and  stop  his  slanderous  t^lx, 
I  remained  in  New  York  for  two  weeks  previous  to  the  movement  when  my 
presence  elsewhere  was  absolutely  needed,  to  get  the  men  in  readiness  and 
complete  our  arrangements.  As  a  consequence,  many  points  which  Gen.  Don- 
nelly and  myself  intended  visiting  personally,  and  on  which  we  depended  for 
men  to  inaugurate  the  movement  could  not  be  reached  ;  hence  the  failure  of 


II 


10 


OvnouL  Bbpobt  or 


those  metf  to  arrive  in  time,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  the  failure  of  the  moT»< 
meut  Matters  were  in  such  a  condition  when  I  finally  had  it  in  my  power  to 
leave  New  York,  that  an  advance  become  ut  once  imperative.  Thus  I  was 
compelled  to  relinquish  my  intention  of  visiting  the  West  publicly  and  then 
quietly  return  after  having  seen  all  the  officers  in  whom  I  confided  for  effective 
aid  at  the  outset  The  author  of  this  mischievous  delay  was  elected  Vice  Pres- 
ident solely  because  he  was  thought  friendly  to  myself,  and  his  harmonious 
co-operation  would  free  me  from  the  obstacles  previously  thrown  in  the  way  of 
p.^rfecting  my  arrangements.  His  duplicity  during  the  sitting  of  the  Congress 
favored  this  opinion.  Had  the  Congress  the  least  rei  qon  to  think  otherwise, 
his  election  would  never  have  occurred.  I  hod  already,  however,  learned  to 
appreciate  the  man  and  would  never  have  consented  to  act  as  President,  with 
him  as  my  next  superior  officer,  had  I  not  anticipated  taking  the  field  at  an  early 
day.  Once  the  advi^nce  in  the  field,  the  mission  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood 
was  ended.  A!i  the  branches  of  the  F.  B.  combined,  could  not  keep  twenty 
thousand  men  in  the  field  thirty  days.  Whoever  opines  to  the  contrary,  merely 
shows  his  profound  ignorance  of  the  resources  required  to  support  an  army  in 
tustive  service.  The  supremely  wise  statesmen  of  the  Senate,  with  a  few  others, 
imagined,  no  doubt,  that  they  were  the  only  persons  fitted  to  express  an  opinion 
on  this  subject  As  for  myself,  I  looked  to  Irishmen  and  firiends  of  Irish  lib- 
erty all  over  the  world,  for  the  aid  that  would  enable  us  to  cope  with  any  degree 
of  success  against  the  great  power  of  England.  Men  of  means  and  iuflu'jnce 
there  are  in  great  abundance,  who  have  never  touched  Fenianism,  yet  sympa- 
thize deeply  with  Irish  freedom ;  these,  once  effective  action  was  begun,  would 
be  the  foremost  among  the  active  aUies  of  belligerent  Ireland.  The  efforts 
that  have  been  made  to  contract  Fenianism,  and  keep  it  within  the  complete 
control  of  a  few  pretended  patriots,  hove  proved  its  greatest  weakness. 


The  following  resolutions  of  the  Senate  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  on  the 
subject  of  a  fight  adopted  at  the  various  meetings  of  that  body,  are  copied 
firom  the  pr-^^^edings  of  the  Senate. 

The  names  of  the  Senators  elected  at  the  Cleveland  Congress,  September, 
1868,  are  as  follows  : 

Thomas  Lava"  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  James  Gibbons,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  T.  J. 
Quinn,  Albany,  N.  Y. :  Miles  D.  Sweeney,  San  Francisco,  Cal.  ;  John  Carlton, 
Bordentown,  N.  J.  ;  Frank  B.  Gallagher,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  P.  W.  Dunne,  Peoria, 
Blinois ;  Edward  L.  Carey,  New  York  City ;  Patrick  J.  Meehan,  Hoboken,  N.  J. ; 
Peter  Cunningham,  Utica,  N.  Y. ;  Michael  Finnegan,  Haughton,  Michigan ; 
J.  0.  O'Brien,  Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  William  Fleming,  Troy,  N.  Y.  ;  James  W. 
Fitzgerald,  Cincinnati,  Ohio  ;  John  O'Niell,  Washington,  D.  C.  John  O'Niell 
succeeded  Col.  W.  B.  Boberts,  as  President,  January  1st,  1868.  Thomas  Lavaa 
resigned  July,  1868.  Patrick  Bannon,  of  Louisville,  Ey.,  and  Patrick  Sweeney, 
of  Lawrence,  Mass.,  were  appointed  in  July,  1868,  to  the  positions  vacated  by 
O'Niell  and  Lavan. 


IT 


^&iiii%feX,-t-^^4itt-,^I'i&ii';i'i;-'w 


'^'lS^ 


The  Attempted  Ikyasion  of  Canada. 


11 


8SNA39B  BRSOLUnOHB.  ! 

"New  Tork,  Jannaiy  1, 186& 

"  Mr.  P.  J.  Meehan  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

"Beaolved,  That,  this  Benate  hereby  pledge  themselTes  to  the  members  of  the 
Fenian  Brotherhood,  and  to  each  other,  to  go  to  work  at  once  to  piit  the  national 
organization  on  a  war  footing ;  that  they  will  spare  no  personal  effort  or  exertion 
that  can  be  made  to  that  end ;  and  that  as  soon  as  the  military  organization 
can  be  put  on  an  effective  footing,  the  fight  for  the  freedom  of  Ireland  shall  be 
commenced  without  delay.    Motion  seconded  by  E.  L.  Garey  and  carried. 

"It  was  moved  and  carried  that  the  absent  members  of  the  Senate,  and  all 
Organizers  and  Circles  be  informed  of  the  above  resolution,  and  invited  to  co* 

operate  therein." 

•  •  •  *  •  •  •  • 

Senators  present — James  Gibbons,  P.  J.  Meehan,  Frank  B.  Oallagher,  John 
Oarlton,  Michael  Ounningham,  William  Fleming,  J.  C.  O'Brien,  Edward  II 
Oarey,  all  of  whom  voted  for  the  resolutio 

"New  York,  January  4,  1868. 

"Resolved,  That  should  John  Savage,  Esq.,  refuse  to  fulfill  the  agreement 
with  the  President  and  Senate  of  the  F.  B.,  entered  into  on  the  13th  of  Decem^ 
ber,  1867,  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Senate,  that  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war 
policy  adopted  by  them  on  the  1st  of  January,  1868,  affords  the  best  guarantee 
of  a  real  union  of  Irish  nationalists,  and  to  that  end  they  pledge  themselves 
anew  to  carry  out  that  policy,  and  to  sustain  the  President  of  the  F.  B.  in  his. 
efforts  to  give  it  practical  effect" 

The  ayes  and  nays  were  called  for,  and  the  following  vote  taken :  Ayes, 
Senators  Ckdiagher,  Cunningham,  Carey,  Carlton,  Quinn,  O'Brien,  Meehan,. 
and  Qibbons.    Nays,  none. 

*  *  «  *«  Hi  *  * 

"New  York,  Jii  =  )«iy  5,  1868. 

"Mr.  J.  0.  O'Brien  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  members  of  the  Senate,  with  the  President  of  the  F.  B.» 
on  and  after  the  25th  of  January,  1868,  'go  out  and  publicly  and  privately 
appeal  to  our  people  for  the  aid  necessary  to  put  an  army  in  the  field.  That 
where,  practicable,  a  seaator  be  accompanied  by  an  organizer,  and  that  they' 
make  an  especial  effort  to  procure  firom  citizens  of  the  various  localities,  meana 
to  transport  to  the  front,  the  men  raised  in  each  locality." 

"The  resolution  was  seconded  and  unanimously  adopted." 

n*  ^  T*  ^n  ^  V  V  ^^ 

Senators  present— Qibbons,  Gallagher,  Cunningham,  Meehan,  Carey,  Oarlton^. 
Quinn,  and  O'Brien.  Jas.  W.  Fitzgerald,  P.  W.  Dunne,  and  Thomas  Lavan,. 
who  were  not  present  when  the  foregoing  resolutions  passed  the  Senate,  sub- 
sequently pledged  themselves  to  sustain  them,  and  assist  iu  carrying  them  oal^ 


!--'iif^iii><.^''iugU]i^h- 


tiiii&&!4id3Mi'd/M^^UiMuil-i^^t 


12 


Ofpioial  Report  op 


Buffalo,  K 
* 


r.,  July  23, 1808. 

*  ♦ 


*  He  ))<  *  * 

•'  The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  presented  and  seconded  : 

"  Wliereas,  the  Sr^nate  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  at  the  session  of  their  body 
on  the  first  of  January,  1868,  adopted  a  resolution  expressing  their  determina- 
tion to  put  the  Military  Organization  on  an  e£fective  war  footing  as  speedily  as 
possible,  and,  that  as  soon  as  this  should  be  accomplished,  the  fight  fbr  the 
independence  of  Ireland  should  commence  ;  and,  Whereas,  with  a  view  to  ac- 
compUsh  this  end,  conventions  of  tl  o  Brotherhood  have  been  called  in  all  the 
States  in  which  such  assemblies  were  possible,  at  whicli  the  delegates  of  the 
circles  there  represented,  pledged  themselves  iu  the  name  of  their  several  cir- 
cles, to  raise,  and  forward  to  head-quarters  before  the  15th  of  July,  the  means 
necessary  to  place  an  army  iu  the  field,  but  from  the  financial  report  now  be- 
fore the  Senate,  it  appears  that  only  one  fourth  of  the  amount  so  promised  had 
been  received  up  to  the  10th  of  July,  and  a3  money  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
complete  the  preparations  on  which  success  depends  :  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Senate  being  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  immediate 'com- 
mencement of 'he  fight  for  the  liberation  of  Ireland,  pledge  themselves  indivi- 
dually to  go  out  amongst  the  members  of  the  Organization,  and  those  who  sympa- 
thize with  the  cause  of  Ireland,  and  use  all  their  influence  and  every  possible  ef- 
fort to  raise  the  balance  of  the  money  required  to  make  a  forward  movement,  and 
that  they  further  pledge  themselves  to  the  Organization,  that  as  soon  as  the  ne- 
cessary means  are  placed  in  their  .hands,  an  army  shall  be  marched  into  the  ene- 
my's country  under  the  green  flag  of  Ireland,  and  military  preparations  shall 
not  be  delayed  a  single  day. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Senate,  in  connection  with 
the  President  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  be  empowered  and  directed  to  cor- 
respond and  negotiate  with  as  many  of  the  military  men  who  were  engaged  c 
either  side  of  the  late  war,  together  with  such  other  parties  as  they  may  think 
proper,;to  the  end  that  their  military  services  or  pecuniary  aid  may  be  procured, 
to  render  an  immediate  forward  movement  practicable,  and  if,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  said  committee  and  president,  the  military  services  and  pecuniary  aid 
required,  are  forthcoming  to  their  satisfaction,  then  they  are  hereby  empow- 
ered and  direct(id  to  make  such  necessary  arrangements  on  behalf  of  the  Senate 
as  to  direct  and  aid  the  president  in  taking  the  preliminary  steps  for  said  move- 
ment, pnd  further,  that,  if  said  time  be  considered  propitious,  then  the  presi- 
dent is  hereby  requested  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Senate  as  soon  as  practicable, 
after  any  definite  time  of  action  may  be  settled  upon  by  said  committee,  and 
that  said  committee  be  empowered  to  select  any  member  of  the  Senate  to  aid 
in  carrying  into  efi'ect  the  spirit  of  this  resolution. 

^'Resolved,  That  in  the  event  of  the  efforts  being  made  to  raise  the  means 
wherewith  to  commence  a  forward  movement  should  prove  unsuccessful  within 
the  next  four  months,  then  it  is  hereby  declared  that,  from  the  encouraging  re- 
ports made  by  the  president  and  Executive  Committee  on  the  subject  of  certain 
negotiations  with  prominent  military  men  of  this  country,  and  their  promise  to 
render  valuable  personal  assistance  within  a  givea  time,  this,  together  with  the 
legitimate  resources  to  be  derived  from  the  various  circles  of  the  Fenian 
Brotherhood,  justify  the  Senate  in  their  settler',  determination,  to  attack  the  ene- 
my with  an  organized  force,  at  as  early  a  day  next  spring  as  the  weather  will 


-:r— ■■' 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


18 


penult,  and  to  this  end,  said  Executive  Committee,  in  connection  with  the  pres* 
ident  of  the  F.  B.  be,  and  they  are  hereby  empowered  to  take  any  and  all  ne- 
cessary steps  towards  placing  the  Organization  in  a  position  to  take  the  field 
at  the  time  above  indicated." 
The  resolutions  were  nnanimonsly  adopted. 

Senators  present — Gibbons,  Carlton,  Finnegan,  Gallagher,  Flemming,  Carey, 
Meehan,  Cunningham,  O'Brien,  and  Fitzgerald. 

At  the  General  Congress  held  in  Philadelphia,  November,  1868,  nine  Senators 
were  elected,  who,  with  the  six  holding  over,  made  the  Senate  consist  of  the 
following  gentlemen : 

F.  B.  Gallagher,  Buflfalo,  N.  Y.  ;  E.  L.  Carey,  New  York ;  T.  J.  Quinn, 
Albany,  N.  Y.  ;  James  Gibbons,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ;  P.  W.  Dunne,  Peoria,  HI.  ; 
M.  D.  Sweeney,  San  Francisco,  CaL  ;  J.  W.  Fitzgerald,  Cincinnati,  Ohio ; 
T.  McKinley,  Nashville,  Tenn.  ;  E.  McCloud,  Norwich,  Ct  ;  J.  B.  Downey, 
Providence,  R.  L  ;  P.  Bannon,  Louisville,  Ky.  ;  William  J.  Hynes,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  ;  P.  J,  Meehan,  Hoboken,  N.  J.  ;  John  O'NeUl,  Dubuque,  Iowa ; 
J.  C.  O'Brien,,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

John  O'Neill  resigned  August,  1869,  and  Wm.  J.  Davis,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
was  appointed  to  fill  his  place. 

BESOLUnOMS  PASSED  STimSEQUEMT  TO  THE  FHILASEIfHU  df^GBESS. 

Pittahirgh,  Pa.,  Julytst,  1869. 

^P  •I*  ^p  ^*  ^^  JJC  9|C  ^* 

"On  motion,  the  following  resolutions  were  adc;^)ted  : 

' '  Resolved,  That  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  action,  and  policy  determined 
on  by  the  Senate  in  secret  session,  the  President  and  Ex.  Com.  are  hereby 
instructed  to  take  immediate  steps  to  insure  the  harmonious  and  united  action 
of  the  Irish  people,  both  in  America  and  Ireland,  and  wherever  our  people 
are  to  be  found  throughout  the  Dominion  of  England,  and  that  all  details  in 
reference  to  these  matters  be  referred  to  the  President,  and  Ex.  Com.  till  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Senate. 

Resolved,  That  an  address  be  issued  by  the  Senate  to  the  members  of  the 
P.  B.,  urging  on  them  to  go  to  work  at  once,  and  help  to  carry  out  the  policy 
determined  on,  and  which,  if  vigorously  sustained  and  prosecuted,  cannot  fail 
to  give  freedom  and  national  standing  to  the  Irish  race." 

I  was  informed  that  the  "plan  of  action  and  policy  determined  on  in  secret 
session  "  was  to  inaugurate  the  movement  that  fall,  and  each  of  the  Senators 
present  again  pledged  himself  to  go  out  in  his  respective  locality,  and  raise 
the  necessary  means  to  complete  our  preparatiors,  and  to  meet  in  New  York  on 
the  loth  of  the  following  month,  to  make  final  arrangements,  and  remain  in  ses- 
sion until  the  army  took  the  field.  Senators  present— Gibbons,  Gallagher, 
Quinn,  Carey,  MoCloud,  Meehan,  Dunne,  and  McKinley. 


.  ilafe'fcjji^iyaas 


u 


OFnoiAL  Beport  of 


New  York,  Ang.,  19,  1860. 

"On  motion  of  J.  W.  Fitzgerald,  as  mnch  of  the  proceedings  in  Ex.  aessioa 
as  are  embraced  in  the  following  resolutiops,  were  ordered  to  be  placed  on  re- 
cord  : 

"  Resolved,  as  the  sense  of  the  Senate  F.  B.,  that  we  commence  military  op- 
erations at  the  earliest  day  practicable,  npon  the  receipt  of  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  npon  the  basis  of  resolntion  adopted  in  ExeontiTe  session,  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Senate  at  Pittsburg,  Fa.,  and  that  the  members  of  the  Senate  apply 
themsetres  at  once  to  the  raising  of  said  amount  in  their  respective  districts." 

Senators  present — Gibbons,  Meehan,  Fitzgerald,  McGloud,  Downey,  Carey, 
Hynes,  O'Brien,  Quiim,  and  Davis. 


■^♦»' 


IMMEDIATE  PBEPARATIONS.BEPORE  TAKINa  THE  FIELD. 


AwABK  of  how  important  it  was  for  our  ultimate  success,  that,  by  a  secret 
and  simultaneous  movement,  our  men  should  be  thrown  across  the  border  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  take  and  hold  certain  strategic  points,  before  either  gov- 
ernment was  apprised  of  our  design,  or  at  least,  before  they  could  interfere  with 
effect,  I  had  the  preparations  for  taking  the  field  conducted  with  the  greatest 
silence  and  84tt:ecy,  using  every  possible  precaution  to  throw  them  off  their 
guard.  About  three  weeks  previous  to  the  movement,  I  issued  a  general 
order,  a  ^py  of  which  was  sent  to  each  circle  and  to  the  proper 
military  officers,  instructing  them  to  hold  their  men  in  readiness  to  move 
at  a  moment's  notice,  and  ten  days  before  going  to  the  border,  I  sent  a 
letter  to  the  military  officers,  ordering  them  to  provide  at  once  the  means  of 
transportation  for  their  men,  as  final  orders  would  be  forwarded  them  in  a  few 
days.  Several  days  after,  a  communication  was  directed  to  the  military  officers 
and  such  of  the  circles  ea  had  reported  within  the  year  to  head-quarters,  to  send 
on  their  men  Monday  night.  May  23rd,  to  Malone  or  St.  Albans,  as  either 
point  happened  to  be  more  convenient.  This  latter  communication  was  mailed 
in  time  to  have  it  reach  the  circles  firom  twelve  to  forty-eight  hours  before  the 
time  appointed  for  starting.  The  circles  in  the  large  cities,  where  the  facilities 
for  receiving  communications  and  concentrating  men  were  best,  and  where,  also 
the  chances  of  having  our  plans  discovered  were  greatest,  received  the  shortest 
notice.  I  desired  to  give  a  longer  notice,  but  the  danger  of  having  our  efforts 
nipped  in  the  bud  through  the  indiscreet  remarks  of  officers  and  men,  were  too 
great ;  besides,  the  notices  previously  sent  were,  in  my  judgment,  amply  suffi- 
cient. All  were  ordered  to  leave  home  the  same  night — those  near  the  border  as 
well  as  those  at  a  distance — for  the  evident  reason  that  the  railroads  near  the 
line  (with  which  I  did  not  dare  to  make  arrangements  for  fear  of  discovery) 
would  not  otherwise  be  able  to  accommodate  our  men  if  they  came  in  the 
numbers  expocted.  Besides,  the  moment  those  of  our  men  who  lived  at  dis- 
tant points  left  for  the  front,  our  intention  would  no  longer  be  a  secret  to 
either  government,  as  the  fact  \v  ould  be  telegraphed  at  once  all  over  the  coun- 
try.    The  time  of  departure  for  our  men  in  the  extreme  Western  States  and 


xWMMmK^l 


The  Attemfted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


10 


territnries,  who  were  to  operate  against  the  Bed  Birer  Expedition,  was  left  with 
tlie  c^oers  in  charge. 

A^«rt  from  the  proTisiona  made,  as  stated,  to  seonre  a  snfflcient  body  of 
troops  to  begin  tlie  campaign,  I  relied  chiefly  on  the  men  from  Massachusetts, 
Bhode  Island,  Vermont,  and  Northeastern  New  York.  Gen.  J.  J.  Donnelly, 
speaking  in  behalf  ol  the  Organization  in  the  two  former  States,  assored  me 
that  he  would  have  from  ten  to  twelve  hundred  men  at,  or  near  St  Albans, 
on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  May  24th ;  OoL  £.  0.  Lewis,  on  behalf  of  the 
latter,  gave  me  a  like  assurance  of  six  hundred  men  at  the  place  and  time  indi- 
cated. These  were  to  be  followed  up  by  an  equal  force  within  twenty-four  hours. 
These  officers  had  been  specially  assigned  to  organize  in  their  respective'locali- 
ties,  and  Tiewed  in  this  %ht,  the  truth  of  their  assertions  was  not  to  be  doubted ; 
with  these  forces  increased  >>y  considerable  bodies  which  were  expected  from 
other  quarters,  I  would  have  under  my  command  in  this  section  on  Wed- 
nesday morning  upwar-ls  of  four  thousand  men.  If  all,  or  even  half  of  these 
had  arrived  in  time,  the  result  would  have  been  quite  different.  From  a  thou- 
sand to  fifteen  hundred  men  were  in  the  meantime  to  assemble  at  Malone. 

I  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Albans  Sunday  morning.  May  22d,  while 
nearly  every  newspaper  in  the  country  had  me  on  my  way  to  Chicago,  to  con- 
sult with  Biel's  agent  from  the  Bed  Biver  settlement.  Their  information  in 
this  particular  was  about  as  correct  as  that  from  which  were  made  up  their  re- 
ports of  the  affidr  at  Eccles  Hill,  and  the  manner  of  my  arrest.  From  personal 
inspection,  I  found  that  the  arrangements  for  getting  the  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion up  in  proper  time  were  complete.  Similar  arrangments  had  been  made  at 
Malone. 


^♦» 


PLAN  OP  CAMPAIGN. 

To -capture  St  Johns,  on  the  Bichelieu  Biver,  twenty-oue  miies  from  the  line 
and  twenty-two  miles  from  Montreal,  and  Bichmond  in  Bichmond  Co.,  where 
that  branch  of  the  Grand  Trunk  B.  B.,  from  Portland,  Me.,  connect"  with 
the  main  road,  seventy-six  miles  from  Montreal  and  ninety-six  miles  from 
Quebec. 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  sent  Gen.  J.  J.  Donnelly,  with  some  five  hun- 
dred men,  armed  with  breech-loaders,  and  a  good  supply  of  ammunition, 
which  WPS  all  ready,  through  on  the  train  Tuesday  morning  from  St.  Albans  to 
Bouse's  Point,  and  there  seize  the  1 1  lin  from  St.  Johns,  having  previously 
made  arrangements  to  have  one  or  two  rails  token  up,  so  as  to  prevent  its  es- 
cape, and,  if  possible,  to  run  into,  and  capture  St  Johns,  which  at  that  time 
was  entirely  undefended,  and  contained  t,  'considerable  amount  of  arms,  etc. 
If,  by  any  accident,  the  train  could  r  be  seized  or  used  for  the  purpose  in- 
tended, then  they  were  to  proceed  ou  foot  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  if  they 
could  not  capture,  they  could,  at  least,  threaten  the  town,  and,  falling  back  a 
short  distance,  await  reinforcements.  At  the  same  time  a  detachment  of  two 
hundred  men  from  Bhode  Island  and  other  points,  were  to  proceed  by  way  of 
Island  Pond  to  Bichmond,  and  capture  it. 


<IP9P 


16 


Offioial  Report  op 


I  ii 


I  intended  taking  the  balance  of  the  men  (from  ten  to  thirteen  hundred)  to 
Franklin,  Vt,  some.  14  miles  from  St.  Albans,  and  cross  the  line  at  Eooles  Hill, 
and  proceed  toward  St.  Johns,  on  the  sast  side  of  Bicheliea  Biver  as  rrpidly  , 
OS  possible,  while  the  men  who  were  ordered  to  assemble  at  or  near  IVialone, 
N.  T.,  were  to  proceed  to  St.  Johns  by  the  most  direct  route  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river,  throwing  out  a  small  force  of  cavalry  in  the  direction  of  Montreal 
so  as  to  threaten  it.    The  men  coming  up  all  the  time,  'vould  be  in  a  position 
to  protect  the  rear.    We  had  hoped  tc  be  able  to  mount  a  few  hundred  men  , 
immediately  on  crossing  the  line.     Wi*'a  Bt.  Johns  and  Biohmond  in  our  pos- 
session, a  partial  destruction  of  railioad  communi'>>\tion  would  have  rendered 
it  very  difficult  for  the  enemy  to  concentrate  a  force  sufficient  to  drive  us  back, 
before  the  thousands  who,  we  believed,  would  come  to  our  assistance,  could 
reach  us.    In  a  further  advance,  we  would,  of  course  have  to  be  guided  by  the 
number  of  the  reinforcements  that  might  arrive,  and  by  the  number  and  disp'o- 
sition  of  the  Qnemy.    If  we  did  not  succeed  in  taking  and  holding  Bichmond, 
we  could,  with  a  few  cavalry,  destroy  the  railroad  sufficiently  to  prevent  any  force 
coming  from  Quebec,  at  least  for  a  short  time,  and  if  we  did  not  succeed  in 
taking  either  Bichmond  or  St.  Johns,  we  intended  lo  get  as  far  into  the  country  at 
first,  as  oossible,  delay  the  advance  of  the  enemy,  and  fall  back  on  our  own 
forces  coming  up,  and  when  wo  felt  justified  in' offering  or  accepting  tr  ^''e,  to 
do  so.    A  small  force  was  ordered  to  crosd  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  mount  thei^selves, 
•iud  make  a  raid  through  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  &om 
otliv."  points.     At  the  same  time  a  force  was  ordered  from  the  extreme^  c^teim 
States  and  territories,  to  harass  and  annoy  the  Bed  Biver  expedition  on  its 
march,  and,  if  President  Biel  would  fight,  to  assist  him' in  resisting  it,  both  on 
the  march  and  on  its  arrival  in  the  Winnepeg  coimtry.    It  was  my  intention  to 
order  crossings  in  small  detachments  at  various  other  points,  simply  for  the 
purpose  of  distracting  the  enemy,  and  preventing  him  from  concentrating  his 
forces  at  the  main  points.  , 

THE  F>niTTBE  OF  THE  MEK  TO  COME  VF. 

The  failure  of  the  men  to  come  up  in  anything  like  the  numbers  promised  and 
expected,  disarranged  all  my  plans.    I  was  in  St.  Albans  Tuesday  morning,  May 
24th,  when  the  6  o'clock  train  from  the  south  arrived,  bringing,  instead  of 
firom  ten  to  twelve  hundred  men  promised  by  Massachusetts,  about  twenty- 
five  or  thirty,  including  CoL  H.  Sullivan.     He  and  most  of  the  men  he  had 
with  him  would  have  served  the  cause  by  remaining  at  home.     In  lieu  ol  six 
hundred  men  promised  by  Vermont  and  N.  E.  New  York,  about  eighty  or 
ninety  in  charge  of  Major  J.  J.  Monaghan,  arrived  on  the  train.     A  company 
of  sixty-five  men  f-om  B-irlington,  Vt.,  under  command  of  Capts.  William  Cro- 
nin  and  Thos.  Murphy,  had  arrived  the  previous  evening,  and  were  sent  to 
Franklin,  about  14  miles  northeast  of  St.  Albans,  and  two  miles  from  the 
Oanadian  line.     I  had  of  course  to  abandon  the  idea  of  taking  St.  Johns  by 
surprise,  which  could  have  been  easily  done,  as  up  to  the  last  moment  the 
enemy  had  ho  knowledge  of  our  movements,  so  secretly  had  everything  been 
n..inaged.    However,  as  I  expected  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  that  evening 
from  all  the  New  England  States,  and  a  portion  of  the  States  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  (including  New  York  city  and  Brooklyn,)  to  the  number  of  fifteen 
hundred  or  two  thousand  men,  (the  newspaper  and  telegraphic  reports  of  the 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


17 


numbor  of  men  on  the  road,  confirming  tliia  expectation, )  I  decided  to  concen- 
trate all  the  force  I  could  collect,  at  or  near  Franklin,  cross  the  line  and  take 
up  a  position  at  once.  I  sent  an  officer  to  Malone  with  instructions  to  the 
ranking  officer  there,  to  move  out,  when  he  got  his  men  ready,  in  the  direction 
of  St.  Johns.  By  appearing  to  move  on  St  Johns  f^om  these  two  points,  Ma- 
lone and  Franklin,  I  hoped  to  divide  the  enemy'd  fgrces,  believing  that  he 
would  move  with  the  larger  force  to  meet  the  column  from  Malone,  do  as  to 
more  effectadlly  cover  St.  Johns  and  Montreal.  I  left  General  Donnelly  at 
St.  Albans  with  instructions  to  stop  all  our  men  going  through  on  their  way  to 
Malone,  and  send  them  with  those  who  had  beea  ordv^red  to  St.  Albans,  direct 
to  Franklin,  and  proceeded  there  myself  by  way  of  Fairfield  Centre,  where  I 
arrived  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  took  this  circuitous  route  to  Franklin 
in  order  to  keep  the  enemy  in  ignorance  of  my  whereabouts.  Here  I  found  a 
few  of  the  Burlington  men  in  charge  of  a  small  portion  of  arms,  etc.,  and 
about  half  way  between  this  town  and  the  border,  on  the  roadside,  at  a  place 
called  Hubbard's  Comer,  the  balance  of  the  men  with  the  greater  portion  of 
the  arms,  etc.  These  arms,  etc.,4iad  been  hauled  to  the  above  points  by  citi- 
zens of  the  neighborhood,  friendly  to  the  cause,  all  of  whom  will  pleas^  accept 
my  thanks  on  behalf  of  the  Brotherhood,  for  their  unpaid  and  untiring  exer- 
tions on  this  and  on  other  occasions.  I  would  like  to  mention  names,  but  fear 
that  it  might  not  be  to  their  interest  to  do  so. 

At  this  time  the  enemy  had  no  force  near  the  line  to  oppose  us,  and  I  mude 
all  necessary  arrangements  to  cross  over  during  the  night  or  early  the  next 
morning,  taking  up  a  position  on  Eccles  Hill,  which  I  knew  to  be  an  admirable 
one  for  defence,  and  one  from  which  the  enemy  could  not  dislodge  us  without 
artillery,  unless,  indeed,  he  had  a  much  superior  force.  I  also  intended  occu- 
pjing  Cook's  Corner,  two  miles  beyond.  I  was  very  anxious  to  get  the  arms, 
etc.,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  protect  theia  on  the  other  side  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  United  States  authorities,  whom  I  desired  to  evade. 

I  knew  that  if  we  had  a  good  position  on  the  other  side  of  the  line,  our  owk 
men  would  find  their  way  to  us  by  some  means  or  other.  I  had  intended  send- 
ing Gen.  Donnelly  to  Malone  on  Wednesday,  to  command  the  troops  advancing 
from  that  point,  with  instructions  to  go  as  far  into  the  country  in  the  direction 
of  St.  Johns  as  he  deemed  safe,  leaving  the  principal  portion  of  the  arms,  etc., 
behind  him,  close  to  the  line,  and,  if  pressed  by  the  enemy,  to  fall  back  fight- 
ing, so  as  to  delay  him  as  long  as  possible,  whilst  I  should  attack  with  the  su- 
perior numbers  which  I  supposed  would  come  up  to  my  aid,  whatever  force 
might  be  sent  against  myself.  I  felt  fully  satisfied  that  the  occupation  of  C^-i- 
dian  territory  with  any  considerable  force,  would  have  brought  to  our  assistance 
all  the  men  and  material  needed.  It  is  idle  now  to  talk  of  what  wo  could  have 
done  on  the  other  side  if  we  he .'  got  a  respectable  force  across,  but  I  am  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  that,  had  such  been  the  case,  the  Canadian  volunteers 
would  not  have  quite  so  much  to  boast  of  to-day.  I  might  here  mention  that 
there  were  many  military  officers  outside  of  the  Organization  and  a  few  in  it,  of 
acknowledged  ability,  who  were  waiting  orders,  and  who  would  have  been  with 
us  in  a  few  days  had  we  been  at  all  successful— amongst  the  latter,  the  best  and 
ablest  was  Gen.  M.  Kerwin.  Apart  from  those,  however,  there  were  some  of 
the  first  military  men  of  America,  who  had  from  time  to  time  promised  to  assist 
us  once  we  commenced  the  work.    But  we  had  talked  so  much,  and  boasted  so 


-«m^ 


'.■MMj 


uiii^LiddiMk^ 


18 


.    Offioial  Report  of 


III 


loudly,  in  the  past,  and  had  really  acoomplishea  nO  little  that  thoy  wocd  have 
nothing  to  do  with  ub  until  we  p;aye  thom  some  practical  evidence  of  our  sin- 
cerity. Some  men,  calling  themselves  officers,'  came  of  their  own  accord  ; 
they  would  have  served  the  caus"  by  remaining  a6  home  and  attending  to  their 
owa  business,  if  they  had  any.  Many  of  those  boasting  military  titles  would 
have  found  themselves  in  the  ranks  had  we  got  on  the  other  side.  Late  in  the 
afternoon,  the  greater  portion  of  the  men  who  left  St.  Albans  in  the  morning, 
arrived  in  camp  at  Hubbard's  Comer.  I  sent  CoL  Henry  Le  Caron,  Adjt-Oen. 
of  the  F.  B.,  to  St.  Albans,  to  hurry  on  the  i  en  who  arrived  on  the  6  o'clock 
evening  train,  so  that  I  might  be  able  to  cross  the  line  with  a  respectable  force, 
either  that  night  or  early  the  next  morning.  I  stopped  in  FrankUn  for  the  night. 
At  2  o'clock  the  next  morning,  Qsn.  Donnelly — who  had  been  cautioned  against 
remaining  in  St.  Albans  any  longer,  as  the  U.  S.  Marshal  began  to  suspect 
who  he  was,  and  might  order  his  arrest— reached  town,  and  reported  that  be- 
tween four  and  five  hundred  of  our  men  had  arrived  at  St.  Albans  on  the  train 
of  the  previous  evening,  and  were  then  but  a  few  hours'  march  from  Franklin. 
Previous  to  his  arrival,  I  had  received  many  conflictiug  reports,  all  of  them  ex- 
aggerated, of  the  number  of  men  v  ho  were  on  the  way  from  St.  Albans  to  join 
us.  Gen.  Donnelly's  report  I  considered  rcliab.o  ;  hci,  however,  was  mistaken, 
as  not  over  two  hundred  and  thirty  or  forty  men  arrived  on  the  train  ;  about  six- 
ty or  seventy  of  that  number  under  Maj.  Danl.  Murphy,  of  Gonnecti'^nt,  arrived 
at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  having  lost  the.  right  road  during  the  night.  They 
travelled  some  seven  miles  out  of  their  way.  A  few  men  under  Capt.  Kenally  of 
Marlboro,  Mass. ,  also  arrived.  The  balance  of  the  men.under  CoL  John  Leddy, 
of  New  York,  taking  anothei  road,  had  to  march  nineteen  miles,  and  did  not 
get  to  camp  until  one  o'clock,  except  two  men  who  arrived  before  I  started  to 
cross  the  line.    This  delay,  under  the  circumstances,  is  inexcusable. 

General  Donnelly  also  reported  <x>  me,  that  the  telegraphic  dispatches  re- 
ceived at  St.  Albans  before  he  lef^,  announced  that  oi^e  thousand  men  were  on 
the  road  from  the  South,  and  were  expected  in  St.  Albans  on  the  6  o'clock  train 
in  the  morning.  He  left  an  order  wich  a  reliable  man  at  St.  Albans,  instruct- 
ing them  to  get  off  at  St.  Albans  and  march  to  Frankliu  at  once.  The  fact  was 
that  there  were  only  about  sixty  of  our  men  on  the  tmn,  and  they  kept  on  to 
Malone.  On  hearing  that  there  were  so  many  of  our  men  so  near  at  hand,  I 
determined  to  defer  the  crossing  untillater  in  the  morning,  so  as  to  allow  at 
least  a  portion  of  those  said  to  be  on  the  road,  time  to  arrive.  I  permitted  Gen. 
Donnelly  to  remain  with  me  that  morning  and  take  part  in  the  contemplated 
crossing,  after  which  I  intended  .;)ndihg  him  on  to  Malone. 


PBEFABATIOKa  FOB  CBOSSIKO.  ; 

About  10.30  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning.  Gen,  Geo.  P.  Foster,  United 
States  Marshal,  w;th  his  deputy,  Thos.  Failey,  accompanied  by  a  number  of 
citizens,  came  to  camp.  I  at  once  had  my  men  formed  into  line  with  the 
intention  of  "resisting  arrest  in  cane  the  marshal  attempted  it,  and,  in  fact,  in- 
tended anesting  himself  and  his  deputy  and  taking  them  along  if  they  under- 
took to  interfere  with  us.  The  marshal,  in  his  carriage,  was  stopped  by  the  guard 
just  as  he  came  up  to  our  men.  I  sent  Oa.  Donnelly  to  him,  to  inform  him 
that  it  would  be  useless  for  him  to  attempt  to  mako  any  aiTOsts,  as  we  were 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


10 


preparud  to  resist  it.     Oen.  Donnelly,  howeTer,  mirmised  that  the  marshal 
maUzed  the  sitnation,  and  did  not  care  to  interfere  with  na  just  then. 

I  was  onbmquently  informed  that  he  telegraphed  to  Washington,  informing 
the  authorities  there,  that  he  was  powerless  to  moke  any  arrests.  Aft^r  some 
conversation,  the  marshal  expressed  a  desire  to  read  the  President's  proclama* 
tion,  to  which  Oen.  Donnelly  objected,  and  at  the  same  time  informed  him  that 
we  had  already  seen  it ;  he  then  requested  that  the  road,  being  a  public  high- 
way, be  kept  clear,  so  that  citizens  could  pass  and  repass,  which  request  wt\u  at 
once  complied  with.  I  might  here  mention  that  a  number  of  citizens  were 
hanging  around  us,  and  several  buggies,  carriages,  etc.,  were  continually  pass- 
ing and  repassing  to  the  Canadian  side,  and  of  course  carrying  information  to 
the  enemy ;  no  doubt  several  officers  came  across  ;  this  we  could  not  very  well 
avoid  without  arresting  them,  which  we  did  not  wish  to  do  on  American  soil. 

The  marshal  came  into  camp,  and  Oen.  Donnelly  informed  me  that  he,  the 
marshal,  had  no  intention  of  making  any  arrests,  as  he  had  no  force  with  him, 
and  suggested  that  I  had  better  see  him.  This  I  had  no  objection  to,  as  I  w  as 
standing  in  front  of  some  of  my  men  who  were  drawn  up  in  line  under  arms. 
At  Urst,  I  apprehended  that  the  marshal  might  have  arranged  with  the  citizens 
to  assist  him  in  making  arrests,  and  I  desired,  if  possible,  to  avoid  any  diffi- 
culty on  this  side  the  hue.  I  woulil  not,  under  any  circumstances,  permit  my- 
self to  be  arrested  while  I  had  means  to  resist  it.  The  principal  conversation 
I  had  with  the  marshal,  which  occupied  perhaps  three  minutes,  was  on  the 
subject  of  keeping  the  road  clear  for  the  passage  of  citizens.  I  also  told  him 
that  I  would  soon  be  out  of  his  way.  I  had  nearly  two  hundred  men  in  or 
near  camp  at  this  time.  The  marshal  then  drove  across  the  line  to  the  point 
where  the  enemy's  forces  were  in  position.  When  we  were  advancing  we-  met 
him  returning,  and  I  supposed  he  kept  on  to  Franklin. 

The  presence  of  the  United  States  marshal  in  camp,  with  the  report  that 
United  States  soldiers  were  on  their  way  and  close  at  hand  to  assist  himj  to- 
gether with  the  fact  that  I  knew  the  enemy  would  use  every  effort  to  bring  up 
reinforcements  to  defend  the  admirable  position  which  by  this  time  he  had  ta- 
ken on  Eccles  Hill,  just  across  the  line,  caused  me  to  determine  on  feeliitg-  bis 
position  at  once,  and  ascertaining  more  correctly  his  strength,  and,  if  possible, 
drive  him  from  the  hill.  At  this  time  there  were  many  conflicting  reports  as 
to  his  numbers,  varying  from  thirty  to  three  hundred  men.  Most  of  the  reports, 
however,  agreed  in  placing  his  numbers  at  less  than  one  hundred.  We  moved 
out  about  11.30  o'clock,  A.M.,  176  men.  A  few  were  left  with  the  war  material 
In  camp  and  in  FrankUn,  and  also  a  few  men  from  Connecticut  refused  to  leave 
camp.  Soon  after  moving  out,  CoL  Le  Caron  drove  up  and  informed  me  that 
the  New  York  men  were  close  at  hand.  I  sent  him  back  with  orders  to  hurry 
them  up  at  once.  Our  advance  soon  reached  Alvah  Richard's  house,  about 
twenty  or  thirty  rods  south  of  the  line  dividing  Canada  ttora  the  United  States, 
and  nearly  half  a  mile  from  the  enemy.  Here  I  had  the  men,  who  were  march- 
ing in  column  of  fours,  to  halt,  and  after  addressing  a  few  words  to  the  first 
company,  numbering  32  men,  under  Capts.  Croniu  and  Murphy,  ordered  them 
to  advance  as  skirmishers,  at  the  same  time  putting  Col.  John  H.  Brown,  of 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  in  charge  of  the  skirmish  line.  The  enemy  occupied  a  splen- 
did position  on  the  crest  of  a  wooded  hill,  (Eccles  Hill,)  a  little  to  the  west  of 
the  road,  which  runs  due  north  past  Biohards's  house.    On  the  American  side, 


20 


Official  Eeport  of 


'  ■>'] 


r   :'i 


directly  opposito  the  enemy,  there  was  a  cnrrenpouding  woouod  hill ;  a  small 
vulley  with  a  brook  runoing  through  it,  intorvened.  The  bridge  croHsing  the 
bi'ouk  was  about  eight  or  tea  rods  from  the  lino.  The  meu  wure  ordered  by 
Col.  Browa  to  deploy  as  skirmishers  immediately  after  crossing  it ;  they  might 
huTo  been  depIoy«d  before  they  got  tn  the  bridge,  but  the  distance  was  so  short 
and  the  ground  not  being  advantageous.  Col.  Brown  did  not  deem  it  necessary. 

Uii  the  Canadian  side  of  the  line,  for  about  four  hundred  yards,  the  ground  is 
flat,  and  then  rises  abruptly  into  a  steep  rooky  hill  on  which  the  enemy  word 
posted— some  of  them  behind  large  rooks  nearer  than  was  at  first  supposed. 
Just  as  the  first  of  our  men  reached  the  bridge,  the  enemy  opened  a  heavy  fire 
on  them.  Almost  at  the  first  discharge,  John  Iluwe,  of  Burlington,  Vt.,  was 
shot  through  the  heart,  and  fell  dead  on  the  centre  of  the  M»ad,  and  one  other 
man  was  wounded.  Only  a  few  crossed  the  bridge.  Our  men  returned  the 
fire  for  a  short  time,  but  without  effect,  as  the  enemy  were  covered,  and  then 
scattered  and  sought  shelter  under  the  bridge,  behind  a  fence,  and  a  tannery 
close  by.  Some  few  came  back  to  Bichords's  house.  I  remained  at  Bichards's 
house  with  twenty-five  men,  with  whom  I  intended  supporting  the  skirmish 
line,  but  it  fell  back  so  suddenly  there  was  no  chance  to  support  it.  I  had  now  as- 
certained all  that  I  wanted,  namely,  that  the  enemy  intended  to  defend  the  hiTl 

I  had  no  intention  whatever  of  charging  up  it.  If  the  men  had  beep  old  sol- 
diers, such  men  as  I  had  at  Bidgeway  in  ISGG,  I  would  have  attempted  a  flank 
movement  as  soon  as  the  skirmish  line  retreated  ;  but  many  of  them  were  mere 
boys,  who  had  never  been  in  a  fight  before,  and  showed  evident  signs  of  waver- 
ing at  the  first  fire  of  the  enemy. 

Soon  after  the  firing  commenced,  I  ordered  the  men  in  the  rear  across  an 
open  field,  some  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  up  the  hill  to  our  left, 
which  was  covered  with  timber,  and  afforded  an  excellent  shelter.  While  they 
were  crossing  the  field,  the  enemy  kept  up  a  heavy  fire  on  them,  and  killed  one 
man,  M.  O'Brien  of  Moriah,  N.  Y.,  and  wounded  two  others.  The  men  had  to 
cross  a  stone  fence.  On  leaving  ihe  road,  and  in  ascending  the  hill  under  the 
the  enemy's  fire,  they  were  neither  regular  in  their  gait,  precise  in  their  step, 
nor  did  they  keep  a  straight  line,  or  observe  the  prescribed  distance  of  "  thirteen 
inches  from  breast  to  back."  This  was  the  only  occasion  in  which  there  w<).s 
any  opportunity  for  the  officers  to  display  tactical  knowledge,  the  absence  of 
which  has  been  so  severely  animadverted  on  by  profound  military  critics, 
(profound  asses,)  not  one  of  whom  could  handle  a  corporal's  guard  either  on  or 
off  the  field.  As  to  lack  of  generalship,  if  there  had  been  men  to  command,  there 
would  have  been  some  opportunity  forjudging  whether  it  was  lacking  or  not ; 
as  it  was,  there  was  not  more  than  a  captain's  command  present. 

The  large  number  of  citizen  spectators,  who  advanced  with  us,  some  of  them 
ahead  and  some  along  side  of  the  men,  started  for  the  rear  as  soon  as  the  ene- 
my commenced  firing,  and  in  doing  so,  created  a  good  deal  of  confusiun,  which 
had  a  demoralizing  effect  on  the  men.  Many  of  them  had  taken  possession  of 
the  hill  to  our  left,  supposing  they  would  have  a  good  view  and  be  perfectly 
safe  from  the  enemj  "s  bullets.  Amongst  them  was  a  correspondent  of  the  New 
York  Herald,  who  made  good  time  to  the  reai\  leaving  his  horse  behind.  I  left 
the  men  at  Bichards's  house,  in  charge  of  Gen.  Donnelly,  and  ascended  the 
hill,  on  foot,  under  fire  of  the  enemy.  J.  Boyle  O'Biley,  reporter  for  the  Boston 
Piiot,  did  the  same  thing,  under  my  instructions,  a  few  moments  previous. 

\ 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


ai 


As  I  oscendod  ttio  hill,  I  noticed  some  of  the  men  making  for  the  roar,  while 
those  who  remained  were  firipg  indiscriminately  without  judgment,  and  e^a- 
dently  doing  the  enemy  no  harm.  When  I  got  np  the  hill  I  tried  to  induce 
them  to  move  forward  to  a  more  advantageous  position,  where  they  would  have 
a  fair  view  of  the  enemy,  and  be  able  to  use  their  fire  to  some  efoct.  But  for 
the  first  time  in  my  life  1  failed  in  rallying  men  or  getting  them  to  follow  where 
I  was  willing  to  lead.  J.  Boyle  O'lUley,  Major  Danl.  Marphy,  Oapt.  John  Fitz- 
patrick,  and  other  officers  and  men,  whose  names  I  do  not  knolv,  acted  very 
gallantly  in  trying  to  get  the  men  forward,  but  with  no  result.  Only  a- few 
were  willing  to  venture  forward.  I  fear  that  some  of  them  had  b?t  a  very  im- 
perfect idea  of  the  duties  incumbent  upon  them,  or  the  responsibility  they 
assumed,  in  swearing  allegiance  to  the  Irish  Republican  Army.  They  seemed 
to  have  a  very  erroneous  idea  as  to  the  number  of  the  enemy,  (there  were  not  a 
hundred  of  them,  and  volunteers  at  that,)  which  was  confirmed  to  some  extent 
by  the  rapidity  of  his  fire.  I  believe  he  was  armed  with  Spencer  rifles  ;  I  have 
been  in  many  engagements,  but  never  before  heard  so  much  firing  where  there 
was  so  little  execution.  Finding/  that  I  could  not  accomplish  anything  practical 
with  these  men,  I  had  them  to  fall  back  a  short  distance  out  of  range  of  the 
enemy's  •  bullets,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  men  from  New  York,  under  Ool. 
Leddy,  whom  I  looked  for  every  moment.  It  was  then  I  made  the  following 
remarks  to  the  men  : 

"Men  of  Ireland  I  am  ashamed  of  you!  You  have  acted  disgracefully 
to-day  ;  but  you  will  have  another  chance  of  showing  whether  you  are  cravens 
or  not.  Comrades,  we  must  not,  we  dare  not  go  back  with  the  stain  of  coward- 
ice on  us.  Comrades,  I  will  lead  you  again,  and  if  you  will  not  follow  me,  I 
will  go  with  my  o.'  rs  and  die  in  your  front !  I  now  leave  you  under  charge  of 
Boyle  O'Riley,  anf  will  go  after  reinforcements,  and  bring  them  up  at  once." 

I  felt  perfectly  snt'sfied  that  when  I  got  a  few  old  soldiers  np,  particularly 
the  men  from  New  York,  most  of  whom  I  knew  personally,  that  they  would  do 
better.  I  have  often  seen  men,  when  brought  into  action  for  the  first  time,  act 
badly  at  the  outset,  but  the  moment  reinforcements  arrived  they  seemed  to  ac- 
quire new  spirit  and  behave  very  gallantly.  Fully  one  third  of  the  men  who  as- 
cended the  hill,  bad  fallen  back,  beyond  the  reach  of  my  voice,  before  I  got  to 
the  top.  I  started  to  bring  them  back,  but  seeing  Oen.  Foster,  his  deputy 
Failey,  and  others  on  the  hill,  in  the  direction  in  which  they  had  fallen  back,  I 
returned.  These  men,  who  basely  deserted  their  comrades,  together  with  the 
few  who  refused  to  leave  camp  in  the  morning,  were  met  on  their  way  to  St. 
Albans  by  newspaper  reporters  and  others,  and  were  the  first  to  give  circulation 
to  the  ridiculous  stories  of  " want  of  judgment  and  military  capacity,"  "bad 
generalship,"  etc.,  etc.,  which  were  so  extensively  circulated  by  the  press  of 
the  country  at  the  time.  Of  course  these  men  were  in  the  fight  and  saw  it  all. 
They  took  particular  good  care,  however,  not  to  remain  very  long.  It  was 
from  these  men  that  many  of  the  newspaper  reporteis  got  the  information 
which  they  sent  to  their  respective  papers,  and  which  was  pubUshed  as  "  reli- 
able news  from  their  special  correspondent  on  the  field."  The  reporter  for  the 
New  York  World,  who  was  near  the  field,  was  so  gloriously  drunk,  that  he  and 
his  notebook  had  to  be  picked  up  from  the  roadside  that  afternoon,  by  the 


■  -'v'-.Mf.jrf.^'iiJfTf  %  -''i     •  'itM'''r'r 


iiSytiliiitJBfeJfi 


^■■^^i?msim 


S9 


Offioul  IUport  of 


I  ll! 


'      It 


■horiff  of  Chittenden  County.  No  doubt  biH  employori  in  New  York  beliered 
that  tlioy  wore  publinhing  a  "correct  report  by  au  eye  witueu."  I  left  my 
Lome  at  llichardB'*  houHo  when  I  Htarted  to  go  up  the  bill.  A  gallant  young 
man,  named  Timothy  Hullivan,  from  Marlboro,  Mohh.,  volunteered  to  pass  the 
open  Hpace  through  the  enemy's  fire  and  bring  him  back  on  the  road  bo  that  I 
could  ride  to  camp  after  the  reinforcements  ;  but  on  Hoeing  the  manibal  close 
by,  I  did  not  go  mynelf,  but  sent  (  ol.  Humphrey  Sullivan,  and  inHtruoted  him 
to  urge  the  men  to  hurry  up  as  fast  as  potwible.  I  had,  previous  to  leaving 
ItiohardH's  house,  sent  Capt  John  Lonorgan,  of  Burlington,  Vt,  back  after 
them.  I  subsequently  saw  the  marshal  go  down  to  the  road,  and  was  informed 
that  he  had  left  for  Franklin  in  his  carriage  ;  the  carriage  went  back  towards 
Franklin  but  be  was  not  in  it  In  company  with  J.  Boyle  O'Biley,  I  examined 
the  route  for  a  flank  movement  from  the  position  we  were  then  occupying,  and 
after  waiting  about  an  hour,  fearing  that  wo  were  giving  the  enemy  too  much 
time  to  get  up  his  reinforcements,  which  I  beard  were  not  far  off,  I  became  im- 
patient at  the  delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  men,  and  sent  word  to  Oen.  Donnelly  by 
Gol.  Lewis,  that  I  would  go  back  and  hurry  them  up,  and  would  then  make  a 
flank  movement  to  relieve  him  and  the  men  at  or  near  Bichards's  bouse.  He 
would  have  been  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy  if  he  songht  to  change  his 
position  or  fall  book.  On  the  return  of  Gol.  Lewis,  informing  the  men  that  I 
was  going  back  to  hurry  up  reinforcements,  (which  seemed  to  please  them  very 
much,)  I  left  them  in  charge  of  Major  Daul.  Murphy,  and  started  with  J.  Boylo 
O'Biley  down  the  hill,  to  the  road  leading  to  camp. 


♦  ♦»■ 


MY  ABEEST. 

We  stmok  the  road,  over  half  a  mile  from  camp,  at  Mr.  Vincent's  honse,  in 
front  of  which  lay  one  of  our  men  wounded.    A  number  of  citizens  were  around 
him.    We  stopped  a  moment  to  speak  with  the  wounded  man,  and,  as  we 
emerged  from  the  crowd.  General  Foster,  who  had  been  concealed  at  the  end 
of  the  house,  approached  me.     We  shook  hands,  and  talked  together  for  a 
moment.     The  following  conversation,  as  near  as  I  can  recollect,  took  place  : 
Marshal. — "I  think.  General,  you  bad  better  get  in  the  carriage  and  drive 
back  with  me."  (The  carriage  bad  just  then  returned. )  I  replied  "  No,  I  will  not." 
He  then  spoke  of  bis  duty,  and  said  "you  are  violating  the  neutrality  laws." 
I  repUed  that   "I  perfectly  understood  my  position."    He  then  said,  "I  am 
sorry,   but  I  must  arrest  you.  General  O'Neill."    I  replied,    "No,   no,   you 
must  not,  you  cannot  arrest  me ;  I  will  not  be  arrested ;  I  am  armed,  and 
will   call    on   my  men   to  assist  me ;"   and  tried  to  break  away  from  the 
marshal  and  bis  deputy,  Thomas  Failey,  both  of  whom  got  hold  of  me.     Ho 
then  said,  "General  O'Neill,  I  must  arrest  you,  and  I  will ;  resistance  is  use- 
les?  ;  I  am  also  armed,  and  have  more  men  than  you  have  to  assist  me."    The 
marshal,  who  saw  me  descend  the  hill,  had  made  arrangements  with  the  citi- 
zens to  assist  him.     I  looked  around  to  see  if  any  of  my  men  were  there  to  aid 
me  in  resisting  arrest,  but  saw  only  one  man,  who  bad  come  back  with  the 
wounded  man.     I  subsequently  learned  that  there  were  two  or  three  scattered 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada.  S8 

ktnongHt  Bome  fifty  or  sixty  oitizoni.  I  was  then  over  m  quarter  of  »  mile  dit> 
tant  from  any  of  my  men,  and  more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  camp.  I  had  no 
anuH  but  my  iiabre — ray  revolvers  being  in  my  Haddle  holsters.  The  citiiteus 
flocked  around  us.  Boeing  that  further  resistance  was  useless,  I  made  none, 
and  was  assisted  into  the  carriage  by  Goneral  Foster  and  his  deputy,  Thomas 
Foiley.  When  I  met  Geror.!!  Foster,  I  was  not  certain  whether  ho  would 
attempt  to  arrest  me  or  not,  and  when  I  thought  of  resisting,  I  was  under  tho 
impression  that  several  of  my  men  were  close  by.  On  entering  the  carriage,  I 
told  the  Oonerol  "that  he  was  assuming  considerable  rosponsibihty."  I  tlien 
thought  that  we  would  meet  the  men  on  tho  march  coming  from  camp,  and  that 
there  might  be  some  chance  for  them  to  stop  the  carriage  and  rescue  me. 

FABSINQ  TUBOUOB  CAMP. 

The  carriage  was  a  light,  close,  two  seated  one,  drawn  by  two  powerful  horses. 
General  Foster  sat  in  the  back  seat  with  mo,  while  his  deputy,  Mr.  Failey,  sat 
in  the  front  seat  with  the  driver.  The  General  cautioned  mo  against  giving 
any  alarm,  and  kept  his  arm  along  the  back  part  of  the  carriage,  close  by  my 
neck,  sc  as  to  prevent  me  from  getting  out  or  calling  to  the  men  in  passing  ; 
but  made  no  such  threats  as  have  been  generally  reported  in  the  newspapers. 
The  driver  lashed  the  hoi  ties  and  drove  furiously  through  the  camp,  past  Colo- 
nel Leddy  and  his  men.  Bome  seem  to  think  that,  if  I  had  given  the  alarm, 
the  carriage  could  have  been  stopped  and  myself  rescued  ;  but  this  I  do  not 
believe,  although  I  wit<i  of  that  opinion  myself  when  arrested.  To  have  stopped 
the  carriage,  under  the  circumstances,  would  have  required  more  nerve  and 
judgment  than  most  of  men  possess.  Had  the  officer  in  charge  known  of  my 
arrest  before  we  got  up,  and  had  he  posted  two  or  throe  men  on  the  road,  awny 
from  tho  others,  they  might  have  shot  one  or  both  of  the  horses  whilo  passing. 
Even  this  is  doubtful,  as  the  horses  were  going  very  rapidly.  Or  if  he  had 
placed  a  few  men  at  a  charge  bayonets  across  the  road,  and  if  they  had  stood 
their  ground,  which  is  very  doubtful,  they  could  stop  the.  carriage.  He  might 
also  have  blocked  the  road  with  boxes,  barrels,  etc.  I  do  not  believe  that 
there  was  a  single  officer  there  who  would  have  ordered  an  indiscriminate  firing 
at  the  horses  from  either  side  of  the  road  whilo  the  men  were  scattered  on  both 
sides  o.  It.  To  have  caught  the  horses  at  the  rate  they  were  going,  and  st'^pped 
them,  was  simply  out  of  the  question.  But,  as  the  officers  and  men  knew  noth- 
ing of  my  arrest,  before  I  could  give  the  alarm  and  have  it  understood,  with  the 
rattling  of  the  carriage,  and  the  noise  and  confusion  amongst  the  men  them- 
selves, I  would  have  been  bome  out  of  reach.  The  deputy  marshal  and  driver, 
sitting  in  front  of  the  carriage,  as  soon  as  they  came  up  to  tho  men,  commenced 
calling  out  at  the  top  of  their  voice,  "Clear  the  way  !  Clear  the  way  !"  which 
was  done  instantly,  and  a  free  passage  made— the  carriage  not  having  to  relax 
its  speed  even  for  a  second.  Hence  any  eflbrt  I  might  have  made  to  make  my 
situation  intelligible,  could  not  be  acted  upon  in  time  to  effect  my  release.  The 
fact  that  there  were  150  or  more  men  in  camp  did  not  mend  tho  matter. 
Half  a  dozen  of  men  would  have  been  infinitely  better.  Numbers  in  such  a  case 
only  tend  to  confuse.  That  General*Foster  was  prepared  to  prevent  any  alarm 
being  given,  or  any  conversation  between  myself  and  the  men,  so  far  as  phy- 
sical strength  would  enable  him  to  prevent  it — and  he  is  a  large  and  powerful 
man — I  am  fully  aware  of,  from  the  position  he  occupied  in  tho  carriage.    That 


/^ 


iin 


24 


OPilOIAL  RePOBT  op 


he  would  have  resorted  to  the  use  of  fire-arms,  except  in  self-defence,  I  do  not 
believe ;  and  while  I  very  much  regret  being  arrested  at  such  a  time,  and  would 
not  have  permitted  it  if  I  could  have  avoided  it,  yet  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with . 
Grenerol  Foster  for  performing  a  duty  which  he  was  sworn  to  discharge,  and 
only  regret  that  chance  enabled  him  to  perform  it.  At  the  time,  I  did  not 
regret  my  arrest  so  much,  because  I  knew  that  the  command  would  devolve  on 
General  J.  J.  Donnelly,  who  was  cognizant  of  nearly  all  my  plans.  The  unfor- 
tunate accident  he  met  with,  in  escaping  from  the  position  he  occupied  at  Bich- , 
ards's  house,  (from  which  I  had  hoped  soon  to  relieve  him,)  caused  me  to  bit- 
terly regret  the  unfortunate  circumstance  that  lodged  me  in  a  jail.  After  my 
arrest,  I  had  no  opportunity  of  communicating  with  the  command  either  at 
Franklin  or  Malone. 


PBECAUnONS  AGAINST  ABBE8T. 

"With  the  fate  of  Gen.  Sweeney,  who  was  arrested  at  his  hotel  in  St.  Albans, 
during  the  movement  of  1866,  before  me,  I  had  determined  on  taking  every 
precaution  that  I  possibly  could  against  a  similar  mischance.  On  Saturday 
morning,  the  21st  inst.,  I  left  Bufialo,  N.  Y.,  and  arrived  in  Troy  the  same 
evening,  avoiding,  as  much  as  possible,  seeing  any  person  in  Troy.  I  took  the 
sleeping  car  and  arrived  at  Georgia  Depot,  Vermont,  early  the  next  morning, 
(Sunday,)  where  a  friend  met  me  with  his  buggy  and  took  me  to  his  house  in 
the  country.  Here  I  remained  all  day  Sunday  and  Monday,  and  put  on  a 
disguise  suit,  which  had  bden  purchased  for  me  by  a  friend  in  Bufifalo.  At 
2  o'clock  Tuesday  morning,  this  gentleman  took  me  in  his  buggy  to  St.  Albans, 
where  we  arrived  at  the  house  of  a  friend  a  Uttle  after  daylight.  My  principal 
business  at  St.  Albans  was  to  see  Gen.  Donnelly,  and  to  give  him  final  instruc- 
tions previous  to  his  starting  for  St.  Johns,  but  through  the  failure  of  the  men 
to  arrive,  this  part  of  the  programme  had  to  be  abandoned,  and  I  started  with 
the  same  friend  who  had  brought  me  to  St.  Albans,  for  Franklin,  as  before 
stated.  Up  to  my  arrival  at  Franklin  there  were  not  more  than  half  a  dozen 
men  (and  they  all  perfectly  reliable)  in  that  section  of  country,  who  knew  any- 
thing about  my  whereabouts.  At  Franklin,  from  the  number  of  orders  and 
instructions  I  was  obliged  to  give,  crowds  of  citizens  met  me  at  every  turn.  I 
found  that  I  was  soon  recognized,  but  there  was  no  marshal  in  the  vicinity  at 
the  time  ;  besides  I  was  in  the  midst  of  my  men  and  would  not  have  submitted 
to  arrest.  I  claim,  therefore,  to  have  taken  every  precaution  that  it  was  possi- 
ble for  me  to  take  to  avoid  arrest.  No  doubt  there  are  very  many  who  can  now 
see  clearly,  and  without  spectacles,  how  easily  I  could  have  avoided  arrest,  or 
been  rescued  after  my  arrest,  but  they  were  not  in  my  place,  and  I  question 
very  much  if  they  would  have  done  any  better  if  they  had  been.  Talk  is 
cheap. 


COMMITMENT  TO  PBISON. 

General  Foster,  whose  conduct  throughout  has  been  that  of  a  gentleman, 
drove  me  rapidly  to  St.  Albans,  where  I  was  brought  before  United  States  Com- 
missioner Smalley,  on  a  charge  of  havirig  violated  the  neutrality  laws.  I 
wflived  examination,  and  in  default  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  bail,  was  com- 
mitted to  jail  at  Burlington,  where  I  arrived  the  same  evening,  and  where,  to 
the  credit  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  I  still  remain. 


rr-^ 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


UnTEB    FBOM    QENEaAIi    OEOBOE    P.    FOSTER,    TTKITED    STATES    MAB^AXi,    ON  THB 

ABBEST. 

WimsoB.  Vi.,  October  13, 1870. 
Genebal  John  O'Neh-l  : 

Sib  :  I  have  read  your  statement  in  regard  to  your  arrest,  and  the  circum- 
Btances  connec'od  with  it,  at  Franklin,  Vt.,  on  the  25th  day  of  May,  1870,  and 
unhesitatingly  concur  with  you  in  regard  to  what  transpired  at  that  time. 

Geo.  p.  Fosteb,  U.  S.  Marshal. 

The  following  letter  from  reporters  of  the  press,  who  were  in  camp  before  we 
left,  went  out  with  us  and  were  at  Bichards's  house  during  the  skirmish,  (one 
of  them,  J.  Boyle  O'Riley,  wae  with  me  from  the  time  I  ascende^  the  hill  until 
my  arrest,)  although  intended  by  them  as  private,  and  so  regarded  by  me,  yet 
I  take  the  liberty  of  publishing  it.  (I  hope  the  gentlemen  will  pardon  the  lib- 
erty. )  It  is  from  parties  whose  opportunities  for  forming  a  correct  opinion  were 
certainly  as  good  as  those  of  reporters  who  remained  at  St.  Albans,  gathering 
tLnr  information  from  men  who  ran  away,  and  drawing  inspiration  from  Cana- 
dian whiskey,  which  no  doubt  was  furnished  duty  free. 

St.  Albamb,  Yt.,  Morning  of  the  26th  Hay,  1870. 
Geneeaij  John  CNeill  : 

My  Deab  GtNEBAii :  As  you  ordered  me,  I  told  my  command  on  the  hill  that 
you  had  been  arrested.  I  then  gave  the  command  to  Major  Daniel  Murphy,  8f 
Bridg  -tort.  Conn.  He  determined  to  fall  back  to  the  place  where  the  stores 
lay.  Whilst  forming  his  command.  Captain  GrifSn,  from  New  York,  arrived 
ana  reported  a  ioinforcement,  in  the  rear,  of  150  men.  I  then  went  down  to 
General  Donnelly.  He  was  deeply  affected  when  I  told  him  of  your  arrest.  He 
could  not  leave  his  place,  but  determined  to  do  so  in  the  night.  He  did  so  last 
night,  and  is  now  with  the  main  body  at  the  stores.  The  United  States  troops 
Lave  arrived  here.  I  am  going  to  the  front  with  Ihe  other  reporters.  In  their 
names  I  can  assure  you  that  you  need  not  fear  that  your  name  will  sustain  one 
iota  of  blemish.  It  is  in  our  hands,  and  we  know  the  truth  and  will  promul- 
gate it. 

Always  yours,  respectfully, 

J.  BoTLE  O'REiLiiT,  Boston  Pilot. 

H.  S.  Haet,  BurUngton  Free  Press. 

M.  B.  Caepenteb,  Troy  Press. 

H.  S.  Tdttle,  Rutland  Herald. 

C.  H.  Tuttle,  Boston  Advertiser. 
The  reports  furnished  by  these  gentlemen  to  their  respective  papers  were  in 
the  main  con'ect. 

MX  ABBEST  A  FOETUNATE  CIECXJMSTANCB. 

Previous  to  leaving  camp  I  was  under  the  impression,  derived  from  the  best 
sources  of  information  at  my  command,  that  there  were  about  four  hundred 
men  on  the  road  from  St.  Albans,  who  were  expected  every  moment,  and  over 


-■i-iri<iiinrniiiiiiinrrrn»«iiriiimiiii 


26 


Offioial  Bepobt  of 


a  thoasand  men  who  had  arrived  at  St.  Albans  on  the  morning  train,  and  who 
would  get  to  US  during  the  day.  If  the  Fenians  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  on 
whom  I  depended  at  the  last  moment,  instead  of  counting  their  dollars  as  dia- 
monds, when  dealing  with  a  man  who  had  before  and  was  again  willing  to  risk; 
and  if  necessary  to  sacrifice,  that  which  all  the  dollars  of  all  of  them  combined 
could  not  purchase,  his  life,  and  instead  of  indulging  in  their  doubts  and  fears 
as  to  whether  there  was  going  to  be  a  movement  or  not,  had  furnished  me  with 
a  few  himdred  dollars  for  contingent  expenses,  which  I  had  asked  of  thom  pre> 
vious  to  leaving  the  city,  and  which  they  had  promined  me,  I  would  have  been  in 
a  position  to  have  bought  horses  which  would  have  enabled  me  to  have  got  more 
correct  information.  But  they  were  much  more  exacting  in  the  promises  that  I 
made  to  them  than  they  were  in  redeeming  their  own,  on  which  mine  to  a  great 
extent  were  based.  As  it  was,  I  had  neither  horses  nor  money,  and  had  to  de- 
pend almost  entirely  on  the  reports  brought  me  by  outsiders.  It  would  now 
appear  that  these  reports  were  very  much  exaggerated,  and  that  only  between 
six  and  seven  hundred  men  altogether  arrived  at  Si  Albans  during  the  excite- 
ment. With  this  fact  before  me,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  it  was  a  very 
fortunate  circumstance  that  I  had  been  arrested  at  the  time  I  was,  for  if  I  had 
not  been,  I  certainly  would  have  crossed  the  line,  believing  that  large  reinforce- 
ments would  immediately  join  us,  and  in  all  probability  much  bloodshed,  with- 
out any  permanent  good  to  the  cause  of  Ireland,  would  have  been  the  result ; 
and  however  anxious  I  might  have  been  to  vindicate  my  own  character  by  hav- 
ing a  fight,  I  would  certainly  have  regretted  being  the  cause  of  shedding  blood 
where  no  good  could  result  from  it 

APTEB  vex  ABBEST. 

After  I  had  been  arrested,  no  practical  effort  was  made  by  the  men  from  New 
York,  or  any  others,  to  cross  the  line  or  advance  to  the  front  to  relieve  General 
Donnelly — a  man  whom  most  of  them  knew  personally,  and  one  who,  when  in 
New  York  a  short  time  previous,  had  received  the  assurance  from  them,  that 
they  had  every  confidence  in  him,  and  desired  him  for  their  commanding  offi- 
cer. Why  this  was  m  is  more  than  I  am  able  to  say.  There  were  several  offi- 
cers amongst  them  who  had  seen  service,  and,  certainly,  the  air  of  confidence 
and  self-complacency  with  which  some  of  them  criticised  and  condenmed  my- 
self and  others  for  want  of  judgqaent  and  military  capacity,  (I  don't  know  that 
they  have  got  through  talking  yet,)  would  lead  one  to  believe  that  they  would 
use  a  little  of  that  profound  wisdom  and  military  capacity,  which  made  them 
such  excellent  fault-findevs,  in  attempting  a  flank  movement  or  doing  something 
to  create  a  diversion  in  favor  of  General  Donnelly,  so  that  he  ijight  be  enabled 
to  get.out  of  his  dangerous  position  without  having  the  whole  of  the  en.^my's 
fire  concentrated  upon  him.  I  pvesume,  however,  that  these  wiseacres  found 
it  much  easier  to  censure  othe>-^  than  do  better  themselves. 

Major  Murph^' abandonee  <  the  hill  during  the  afternoon,  which  left  the  enemy 
free  to  devote  special  attention  to  Gep.  Dfinnelly,  and  the  few  men  he  had  at 
Eichards's  hov  Gen.  Donnelly  and  most  of  his  men  eftected  their  escape 
before  dark.  .  a  order  to  convey  a  more  intelligent  idea  of  what  transpired 
after  my  arrest,  I  shall  publish  the  reports  of  the  officers  who  were  present. 

The  following  named  officers  deserve  special  mention  for  gallantry  displayed 
during  the  skirmisTi :— Gen.  J.  J.  Donnelly,  Col.  John  H.  Brown,  Capt.  Charles 


Tf^ 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


27 


Carlton,  A,  D.  0.,  Major  Daniel  Murphy,  Capta.  Wm.  Cronin,  Thos.  Murphy, 
John  Fitzpatrick,  and  Lieut.  John  Hallaghan.  Also  Capt.  Ahem,  of  Connect- 
icut, and  the  officers  mentioned  in  Major  Mui-phy's  Beport  Capt;  Carlton  and 
Lieut.  Hallaghan  were  wounded. 

OAUSB  OF  THB  FAIXTIBE. 

It  is  very  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  the  cause  of  the  failure  is  to  be  at- 
tributed to  the  want  of  men.  Now  why  is  this  ?  Why  is  it  that  men  who  love 
their  native  land  as  Irishmen  do,  and  who  are  always  sighing  for  a  chance  to 
fight,  and  if  necessary  die  to  serve  that  land,  were  not  on  hand  to  take  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  when  it  presented  itself?  For  this  a  variety  of  reasons 
may  be  given,  but  the  following  is  perhaps  the  strongest : 

The  people,  so  often  deceived  and  disappointed  in  the  past,  could  not  believe 
that  we  were  in  earnest,  and  thousands  of  good  men  who  were  anxious  to  be 
with  us,  kept  indulging  their  doubts  and  fears  until  too  late  to  be  of  service. 
As  a  general  thing,  the  best  men  did  not  leave  their  homes  until  after  the  move- 
ment had  commenced.  The  Senate  party  had  their  emissaries  at  work  all  over 
the  country,  destroying  the  confidence  of  the  people.  Amongst  this  number, 
one  of  the*  meanest  and  most  unprincipled  was  a  Lieut.  Wm.E.  Dougherty,  of 
the  1st  U.  S.  Infantry.  This  man,  who,  from  his  position  in  the  regular  army, 
one  might  expect  to  be  a  gentleman,  occpsionally  parades  his  self-importance 
and  abuse  of  others  in  the  columns  of  that  respectable  vehicle  of  enUghten- 
ment,  the  Irish  Bepuhlic.  The  honorable  and  high-toned  editor  of  this  sheet 
frequently  indulges  in  slandering  men  in  one  issue  to  beg  their  pardon  in  the 
next.  The  lieutenant,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  patriotism,  and  from  a  great 
anxiety  to  serve  the  cause,  in  the  summer  of  1868,  offered  his  services  to  the 
Organization  to  make  a  tour  of  observation  through  Canada,  (a  pleasure  ex- 
cursion); and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  drew  his  salary  as  an  officer  of 
,  the  United  States  Army,  during  the  time,  charged  the  Organization  the  very 
modest  sum  of  $1,225 .00  for  his  services.  From  the  vast  amount  ot  information 
obtained,  which  must  be  of  more  service  to  himself  than  anybody  else,  he  pre- 
pared several  plans  for  the  invasion  of  Canada,  such  as  the  merest  tyro  in  the 
art  of  war  might  prepare  for  an  organization  having  a  government  at  its  back 
with  gunboats,  transports,  artillery,  etc.,  but  which  no  one  but  an  empty  ego- 
tist would  think  of  preparing  for  the  Fenian  Organization.  The  plans,  how- 
ever, were  vclumiuous,  and  were  no  doubt  highly  edifying  to  the  profound 
statesmen  and  would  be  soldiers  of  the  Senate. 

WHO  IS  RESPONSIBLE  FOB  THE  ATTEMPT  AT  THE   "INVASION  OF  CANADA?" 

While  I  do  not  wish  to  shield  mj'self  from  the  responsibility  attached  to  any 
act  of  mine,  as  a  member  of  the  Fenian  Organization,  or  its  President,  yet, 
I  repeat  it,  that  I  had  nothing  to  do '  a  originating  the  scheme  of  freeing 
Ireland  throu^^^  an  invasion  of  Canada,  jome  of  those  who  originated  it  have 
done  much  to  bring  about  the  failure.  It  was  the  policy  of  the  Organization 
before  I  became  a  member  ;  it  continued  to  be  its  policy  after  the  abortive  at- 
tempt of  18G6.  The  five  last  annual  Congresses  of  the  Brotherhood  endorsed 
this  policy,  and  declared  their  determination  to  carry  it  out.  At  every  mee  ting 
of  the  Senate,  since  the  split  in  the  organization  in  18G5,  that  body  passed  res- 


IMMiiMmHiljaiiaMiWIMIMii  mWWIMBII 


iiTiaaaaiMi 


!i^ 


28 


Official  Report  op 


1 

1 

i 

r 

'  ' 

1 

1 

1  ! 

^i 

olutions  declaring  their  unalterable  determination  to  carry  out  that  policy 
Should  they  now  tiy  to  excuse  themselves,  it  can  only  be  on  the  pleo  of  previous 
insincerity,  which  plea  I  am  willing  to  accept.  The  representatives  of  thu  Or- 
ganization in  eighteen  States  of  the  Union,  in  their  State  Conventions  which  I 
attended,  endorsed  this  policy  and  pledged  themselves  to  furniflh  the  means 
necessary  to  its  prosecution.  It  was  on  this  policy  and  for  the  purpose  of 
assisting  in  carrying  it  out,  that  I  accepted  the  position  of  President  of  the 
Organization  in  January,  1868.  I  believed  in  the  policy,  and  for  nearly  two 
yaars  and  a  half  have  been  its  special  representative,  advocating  it  all  over  the 
country.  The  people  who  knew  that  I  represented  the  expressed  wishes  of  the 
Organization,  put  faith  in  what  I  said,  because  they  saw  me  to  be  earnest,  and 
knew  that  I  had  giyeu  practical  evidence  of  my  earnestness  at  the  head  of  tho 
men  who  crossed  the  Niagara  in  1866,  and  fought  at  "Ridgeway."  I  am  of 
opinion  that  thousands  joined  the  Organization  on  my  account,  and  that  thous- 
ands who  were  in  it,  would  have  left  it  long  ago,  did  they  not  believe  that  I 
intended  to  fight 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  oft-repeated  declarations  and  assurances  that  wo  pur- 
posed to  fight  in  Canada,  and  that  soon,  tiid  Organisation  could  not  have  been 
kept  togother ;  for  there  Was  another  Fenian  Organization,  presided  over  by 
Mr.  John  Savage,  which  strongly  opposed  ours,  and  had  always  adhered  to  the 
policy  of  fighting  in  Ireland.  The  only  difference  or  cause  for  disunion  be- 
tween the  rank  and  file  of  the  two  organizations,  was  the  difference  in  policy. 
Some  of  the  leaders,  doubtless,  were  actuated  by  personal  motives  in  perpetu- 
ating disunion. 

Besides  this,  there  were  other  organizations,  some  of  them  secret,  whose 
object  also  was  to  assist  the  men  at  home.  But  all  of  them,  I  am  perfectly  sat- 
isfied, would  have  helped  us  if  we  had  made  a  successful  beginning.  I  have 
therefore  been  simply  the  agent  in  carrying  out  the  oft-repeated  poUcy  of  the 
Fenian  Brotherhood.  If  others  were  not  in  earnest,  I  was.  I  never  made  a 
promise  or  a  pledge  to  the  people  which  I  have  not  tried  to  make  good.  The 
people,  through  their  representatives,  have  made  pledges  to  me  which  they  have 
noi  redeemed.  I  think  that  the  system  of  misrepresentation  practiced  by  some 
of  our  Irish  patriots,  has  done  more  to  injure  the  cause  and  destroy  the  con- 
fidence of  the  people  than  a  dozen  of  defeats  on  the  field.  The  particular  time 
for  inaugurating  the  movement  being  controlled  by  the  circumstances  hereto- 
fore related,  I  am  responsible  for  nothing  more.  If  I  had  not  commenced  the 
movement  at  the  time  I  did,  others,  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  would 
have  made  the  attempt. 

"SHALL  ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  BE  MADE  TO  INVADE  CANADA?" 

Is  a  question  which  I  hove  been  asked  frequently  since  my  imprisonment ;  to 
which  I  answer,  No !  emphatically  no.  And  now  I  give  timely  notice  to  any  man 
or  set  of  men  who  may  have  any  idea  of  attempting  it  again,  while  England  and 
Canada  are  at  peace  with  the  world,  that  nothing  that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  do 
shall  bo  left  undone  to  frustrate  it.  Believing  that  the  only  opportunity  for  suc- 
cess in  that  direction  has  passed,  and  passed  forever,  I  shall  for  the  future  be 
found  as  zealous  in  my  opposition  to  such  an  enterprise  as  I  have  been  hitherto 
earnest,  laborious,  and  persevering  in  its  advocacy.  In  all  candor  and  sincerity 
I  advise  those  who  have  heretofore  or  do  now  believe  in  freeing  Ii'eland  through 


,r^-v^- 


The  Attemptei-»  Invasion  of  Canada. 


m 


an  invasion  of  Canada,  while  England  an 'I  Canada  are  at  peace  wltli  the  world, 
to  abandon  the  idea  at  once.  With  the  Uuited  States  authorities  to  hold  you 
back  on  one  side,  and  the  vigilance  and  forward  state  of  preparations  (continu- 
ally on  the  increase)  of  the  Canadian  authorities  to  meet  you  on  the  other,  yon 
will  never  be  able  to  get  a  sufficient  number  of  men  with  armB  and  ammunition 
across  the  border  in  time  to  take  up  a  position  which  can  be  held. 

You  will  be  told  by  that  venerable  patriot,  James  Gibbons,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  signs  himself  "Chairman  Executive  Council,  F.  B.,"  and, who  is  simply 
the  tool  and  mouthpiece  of  another,  that  this  is  the  advice  of  one  who  has 
himself  failed  because  he  assumed  powers  not  delegated  to  l^m  by  the  Organ- 
ization ;  because  he  undertook  a  movement  on  his  own  responsibility  and  with- 
out the  sanction  of  the  people.  By  the  people,  in  this  case,  are  meant  Jamcu 
Gibbons  and  P.  J.  Meehan.  It  has  taken  this  man  and  his  associates  a  long 
time  to  find  out  that  I  was  not  to  be  trusted,  and  that  henceforth  you  must  look 
to  him,  as  the  head  of  a  body,  calling  itself  the  Executive  Council  of  the  F.  B. , 
for  Irish  freedom.  According  to  him,  said  body  only  possesses  the  right  to 
speak  for  the  Irish  Nationalists  of  America,  and  anything  done  or  said  for  Irish 
liberty,  must  first  be  sanctioned  by  it  to  be  legitimate.  Believe  him  not ;  this 
man,  with  his  confreres,  after  doing  all  they  corl '  ?  break  up  the  Organization 
and  destroy  the  confidence  of  the  people,  waf  iected  by  a  fraction  of  the  Fe- 
nian Brotherhood,  at  Chicago,  111.,  in  April  last.  He  had  previously  been  Vice 
President  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  and,  until  a  very  recent  period,  was  one 
of  the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  very  movement  which  he  and  his  associ- 
ates afterwards  did  so  much  to  defeat.  In  his  better  days  he  condemned  in  the 
strongest  language,  the  men  who  were  standing  in  tt<^  way  of  a  successful  in- 
vasion of  Canada  ;  even  P.  J.  Meehan  came  in  for  a  large  share  of  his  censure. 
But,  being  a  man  of  no  stability  of  character,  though  his  pretensions  on  that 
point  are  very  considerable,  he  is  completely  at  the  mercy  of  every  designing 
knave  who  choc  es  to  humor  his  vanity  for  corrupt  purposes. 

They  will  now  try  to  build  up  an  Organization  under  the  pretence  of  prepar- 
ing for  an  immediate  fight  for  Irish  liberty.  But  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion 
that  their  powers  for  disorganization  and  demoi-alization,  which  were  recently 
used  to  such  good  eflfect,  are  much  greater  than  their  j^owers  for  reorganizing 
and  re-establishing  confidence.  But  if  they  can  succeed  in  getting  up  even  a 
nominal  Organization,  they  will  proclaim  to  the  world  through  that  veracious 
journal,  the  "Irish  American,"  and  one  or  two  lesser  lights,  that  they  only  are 
the  representatives  of  the  Irish  Nationalists  of  America,  and  must  have'  a  Ibw 
fat  offices — with  a  little  Corporation  priniing—toi  themselves  and  their  friends  ; 
this,  of  course,  by  way  of  hastening  the  day  of  Irish  independence.  They  will 
tell  you  that  the  unauthorized  attempt  of  the  'h-esident  of  the  Fenian  Brother- 
hood to  carry  out  the  sole  mission  of  the  Organization  "cannot  be  recognized 
as  a  defeat " — certainly  not — "  and  that  the  work  must  go  on,"  If  this  delusion 
can  only  be  kept  up  until  the  next  Presidential  election,  aJl  will  be  well.  The 
only  representatives  of  the  Irish  National  Organization  know  how  to  take  caro 
of  themselves. 

WHAT  SHALL  BE  DONE  WITH  THE  ASMS  AND  WAB  MATEBIAL  OF  THE  P.  B. 

I  would  advise  that  the  United  States  Government  retain  what  they  have  of 
them  for  a  short  time.    To  turn  ftiem  over  to  the  only  Organization  that  would 


i 


sammmiai 


80 


OrnoiAL  Report  of 


il:       1' 


il!     .;.' 


be  likely  to  make  such  a  claim  at  present,  woald  be  simply  to  assist  in  building 
up  a  political  structure  for  the  elevation  of  a  few  individuals.  Circles  or  per- 
sons having  arms,  etc.,  of  the  F.  B.  in  their  possession,  would  do  well  to  hold 
on  to  them  until  a  union  of  the  F.  B.  is  completed. 

A  WORD  WITH  OUB  CANADIAN   FBIENDS. 

I  have  heretofore  referred  to  you,  as  enemies.  I  could  not  speak  of  men 
whom  I  desired  to  fight  in  any  other  way.  Our  only  object  was  to  make  war 
on  England — a  nation  with  which  we  have  been  at  perpetual  war  for  the  last 
seven  hundred  years,  and  shall  so  cont^'aue  to  be  as  long  as  she  claims  the 
right  to  misgovern  Ireland.  You  recognize  the  English  government  as  your 
government,  and  the  English  flag  as  your  flag.  We  desired  to  destroy  both. 
You  were  ready  to  defend  both  ;  hence  our  only  cause  of  quarrel  with  you.  K 
we  had  been  able,  we  would  not  have  hesitated  to  kill  every  soldier  who  was 
ready  to  tight  for  England.  The  majority  of  us  were  in  earnest,  although  a 
few  designing  knaves  and  political  tricksters  succeeded  in  demoralizing  the 
Brotherhood  at  a  critical  moment.  If  we  had  not  been  in  earnest,  the  large 
amount  of  arms  and  war  material  which  many  of  you  saw  on  the  border,  and 
the  large  amount  which  you  did  not  see,  but  which  was  not  far  off,  (enough 
for  over  twenty  thousand  men,  and  costing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dol- 
lars,) would  not  have  been  found  ta  our  possession.  That  we  would  have 
inflicted  many  of  the  evils  consequent  upon  a  state  of  warfare,  cannot  be  de- 
nied. That  we  would  have  pemiitted  murder,  robbery,  etc.,  or  that  we  had  any 
intention  of  appropriating  any  of  your  property  or  lands,  or  that  such  was  any 
part  of  our  object,  I  deny  emphatically,  and  refer  you  for  proof  of  this  assertion 
to  the  movement  in  '66,  and  to  the  conduct  of  our  men  when  hundreds  of  them 
were  on  your  soil  for  two  days,  opposite  Buffalo.  I  now  of  course  speak  of  the 
men  under  my  command.  No  doubt  some  of  those  who  came  to  the  border 
during  both  movements  came  there  to  indulge  their  natural  propensities  for 
pillaging ;  but  had  we  succeeded  on  the  other  side,  these  men  would  soon  be 
given  to  understand  that  their  wishes  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  mission  of 
the  Fenian  Brotherhood.  That  you  are  now  both  able  and  wiiiiug  to  protect 
yourselves  against  any  further  attempts  on  our  part  to  annoy  you,  I  am  fully 
satisfied.  I  speak  for  the  men  who  were  in  earnest  in  this  matter,  and  assure 
you  that  you  shall  have  no  further  annoyance  from  ns.  That  we  have  been  a 
source  of  trouble  and  expense  to  you  for  nearly  five  years  I  need  not  tell  you  ; 
but  your  trouble  is  now  at  an  end.  We  had  a  very  different  object  in  view  from 
keeping  you  in  alarm.  The  men  amongst  us  who  intended  to  fight  will  now 
take  care  of  the  talking  patriots,  who  would  buy  a  cheap  notoriety  by  keeping 
up  the  appearance  of  preparing  for  a  fight  which  it  is  their  intent  shall  never 
come  off.  In  a  word,  we  will  put  an  end  to  the  humbug  of  a  "  Fenian  invasion 
of  Canada,"  at  least  as  long  as  you  keep  out  of  difficulty  at  home  and  abroad. 
You  are  satisfied  with  the  English  government,  and  that  the  EngUsh  flag  Should 
float  over,  I  will  not  say,  protect,  you ;  that  is  henceforth  your  business,  not 
ours.  There  are  many  of  our  countrymen  amongst  you,  happy  and  contented, 
who  no  doubt  were  bitterly  opposed  to  our  plan  of  freeing  Ireland,  while  some 
others  might  entertain  a  different  opinion.  We  now  desire  to  live  at  peace 
with  you  and  them,  and  when  you  commence  housekeeping  on  your  own  ac- 
count, if  you  should  send  us  a  pressing  inviVation,  we  will  be  pleased  to  visit 


iiii 


The  Attempted  Intabion  of  Canada. 


31 


yon,  or,  if  you  should  prefer  to  join  the  great  family  of  Uncle  Sam,  we  7.  ill  bo 
delighted  to  receive  and  recognize  you  as  brothers.  /  for  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense we  have  been  to  you  of  late,  what  have  you  actually  lost?  Nothing. 
Look  at  your  condition  from  a  military  stand-point  five  years  ago  and  look  at 
it  now.  I  repeat  it,  you  have  lost  nothing  ;  and  I  would  respectfully  suggest 
that  you  place  on  the  credit  side  of  that  littie  account  on  your  ledger  of  five  mil- 
lion of  dollars,  which  the  newspapers  say  you  are  going  to  present  to  Uncle 
Sam  as  indemnity  for  losses  sustained  in  resisting  Fenian  invasions,  twenty 
millions  gained  in  military  prestige,  you  will  still  have  fifteen  millions  to  your 
credit.  This  proceeding  will  be  mach  more  sensible  than  to  prove  your  ingrati- 
tude to  Uncle  Sam  by  presenting  the  above  bill ;  for  he  has  been  a  good  Mend 
of  yours  on  two  occasions  within  the  recollection  of  the  present  generation. 


4«» 


CONCLUSION. 

Nearly  five  years  ago  I  joined  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  with  the  simple  wish 
of  serving  the  cause  of  Irish  liberty.  Soon\klter,  I  was  called  upon  to  abandon 
home,  family  and  business  to  fight  for  Ireland.  My  business,  at  the  time,  was 
extensive,  worth  to  me  at  least  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  the  years  and 
energy  since  devoted  by  me  to  Fenianism  would  have  more  than  doubled.  I 
hesitated  not  a  moment  to  risk  alL  Accident  put  me  in  command  of  the  men 
who  fought  at  Bidgeway.  This  fight  was  a  success,  though  the  movement 
proved  a  failure.  You  cheered  and  applauded  ;  proclaimed  me  a  hero,  a  gi'cat 
patriot,  skiUi'ul  commander,  etc. ;  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me  and  hear  me,  that 
you  might  shower  your  congratulations  upon  me.  I  sought  nothing  so  much 
as  to  go  home  and  resume  the  care  of  my  business,  feeling  that  I  had  simply 
done  my  duty  to  IreL^nd,  as  far  as  in  my  power.  On  reaching  home,  I 
found  my  affaiis  in  a  ruinous  condition,  and  saw  the  necessity  of  giving  them 
my  whole  and  immediate  attention.  In  the  meantime,  letters  from  the  circles 
of  the  Organization,  inviting  me  to  visit  them,  poured  in  upon  me  from  all 
quarters  from  a  grateful  people — so  they  said — who  desired  to  show  their  ap- 
preciation of  the  distinguished  services  rendered  by  me  to  the  Brotherhood  and 
the  cause  of  Ireland.  I  accepted  as  few  of  these  invitations  as  possible,  and 
attended  to  my  business,  satisfied  that  my  servi'^es  as  a  patriot  in  travelling 
through  the  country,  making  speeches,  etc.v  would  be  none  the  less  appreci- 
ated, if  I  could  afford  to  pay  my  own  expenses.  I  did  not  then  know  how  skill- 
fully those  two  pure  and  disinterested  patriots  and  Christian  gentlemen,  P.  J. 
Meehan  and  James  Gibbons,  could  torture  legitimate  travelling  expenses — rail- 
road fare,  hotel  bills,  etc.,  incurred  in  carrying  out  their  own  resolutions — into 
"squandering  the  hard-earned  money  of  our  people."  I  had  heard,  however, 
some  mean  talk  about  paid  officials  and  men  living  upon  the  Organization,  just 
as  if  men  of  ability,  depending  on  their  own  exertions  for  a  livelihood,  could 
devote  their  time  and  talents  to  the  Organization  gratuitously.  Had  they 
turned  the  Organization  into  a  means  of  procuring  fat  political  positions  for 
themselves,  as  more  than  one  unpaid  official  has  done,  then  they  could  have 


"•TinriiriMBi'i 


8d 


Official  Bepobt  of 


vgU  afforded  to  give  their  Berriccs  to  the  Brotherhood  withont  other  conipenBa* 
tion.  My  desire  vnn  to  put  myself  in  a  position  to  serve  Ireland,  when  the 
opportunity  arose,  without  requiring  any  romuneration  whatever  for  my  ser- 
vices. 

But  it  would  seem  that  this  was  not  to  be.  For  the  second  time,  at  a  critical 
moment,  when  absence  from  business  would  involve  a  certain  loss  of  thousands 
of  dollars,  (ha'<'int^  just  paid  out  six  thousand  dollars  to  a  lawyer  in  Washing- 
ton to  get  control  again  of  my  business  there,)  I  was  called  upon  by  Mr.  Mee- 
han  and  others,  not  to  fight  immediately,  but  to  first  save  the  Organization  by 
accepting  the  Presidency.  Mr.  Meehan  has  since  informed  me  that,  if  I  had 
then  refused  the  presidency,  the  Organization  would  have  gone  to  pieces — but 
others  are  as  competent  to  judge  of  the  matter  as  he.  I  am  now  of  opinion 
that  Colonel  Boberts  retained  the  office  as  long  as  he  thought  there  was  any 
chance  of  accomplishing  any  good,  and  then  insisted  on  resigning.  Mr. 
Gibbons  reluctantly  consented  to  the  aiTangement  by  which  I  became  presi- 
dent, as 'he  coveted  the  position  for  himself ;  he  had  then,  as  on  all  kj*\  i  occa- 
sions, to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  Meehan.  I  might  here  add  that  the  honor  of 
being  President  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood — at  a  time  when  the  failure  of  the 
"  union  negotiations  "  and  the  resignation  of  Colonel  Boberts  hud  completely 
demoralized  the  Brotherhood — had  no  peculiar  charms  for  me,  and  could  not 
raise  me  in  the  eyes  of  our  people.  On  the  contrary,  had  I,  after  the  fashion 
of  Irish  patriots,  retired  on  the  gi.  ties  f-f  the  past,  on  the  laurels  of  Bidgeway, 
I  might  have  sought  and  obtained  a  political  position  for  myself,  and  become  a 
great  hero  and  patriot  for  the  balance  of  my  natural  life,  having  Meehan,  Gib- 
bons, Carey  and  all  the  rest  of  them,  to  herald  my  praises  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia.    How  foolish  some  men  are  ! 

Nothing  but  the  prospect  of  a  brush  with  the  enemy  that  year  could  have 
justified  me  in  thus  for  the  second  time  abandoning  my  business  and 
my  creditors.  I  did  not  then  know  that  I  was  simply  intended  by  that 
arch-hypocrite,  Meehan,  as  a  tool  to  be  used  by  him  so  long  as  I  was  found  use- 
ful and  pliant,  and  afterward  to  be  thrown  aside,  as  others  had  been  before  me. 
He  is  a  good  mechanic,  and  will  take  all  necessary  pains  to  sharpen  his  tools  ; 
but,  woe  unto  them,  if  they  fail  to  perform  their  allotted  work !  The  columns 
of  the  Irish  American  will  suddenly  change  colors,  and  the  character  that,  yes- 
terday, was  white  as  the  driven  snow,  will,  to-day,  stand  forth  black  as  Erebus. 
Should  the  case  prove  a  difficult  one,  that  gray-haired  patriot,  Gibbons,  who  is 
too  much  of  a  Christian  to  lie  on  his  own  occount,  but  never  yet  refused  to  do 
it  for  his  master,  will  be  called  upon  for  assistance. 

In  compliance  with  the  Senate  resolutions,  I  labored  night  and  day  for  near- 
ly two  years  to  prepare  the  Organization  for  action.  The  men  who  induced  me 
to  accept  the  presidency  had  other  engagements  to  occupy  their  time  and 
thoughts.  They  could  pass  resolutions  of  a  warlike  character  periodically,  but 
at  the  same  time  be  extremely  careful  to  avoid  taking  w&rlike  measures.  If 
resolutions  could  give  liberty  to  a  people,  the  Senate  of  the  F.  B.  would  long 
ago  have  made  Ireland  the  treest  nation  on  the  globe.  They  will  now  account 
to  you  for  their  inaction  by  the  statement  that  they  had  no  intention  to  strike 
until  the  opportune  moment  arrived  ;  they  should  have  so  informed  us  at  the 
start,  but  they  preferred  feeding  you  with  false  promises,  and  getting  me, 
through  their  high-blown  resolutions,  to  do  the  same.   They  will  also  teU  yon. 


.<^.^'^^'-t$att* 


'*.&W 


The  Attejjpted  IirvASiON  of  Canada. 


that  we  wore  not  prepared  for  a  fight  No  ;  aad  what  is  more,  wo  never  should, 
HO  long  an  it  was  in  their  power  to  prevent  it  I  believe  we  were  ns  well  pra- 
pared  for  a  fight  in  Canada  this  spring  aa  we  might  ever  hope  to  be  ;  for  the 
people  were  grown  sick  and  tired  of  our  oft-repeated  and  as  often  broken  prom- 
ises ;  they  were  in  no  humor  to  sustain  the  Organization  any  longer  as  it  stood : 
we  must  either  fight  or  boldly  declare  a  change  of  policy.  The  Senate,  or 
rather  F.  J.  Moehon,  for  it  is  useless  to  allude  to  the  majority  of  that  body  ex- 
cept as  his  tool,  would  do  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  No !  the  delusion 
must  be  kept  up,  and  a  plausible  excuse  for  delajring  the  fight  invented — a 
quarrel  with  the  President  would  serve  this  purpose  best 

' '  O'Neill  assisted  us  for  a  time,  but  he  now  wonts  to  redeem  the  pledges  made 
to  the  people  in  our  name.  He  must  be  disposed  of,  as  no  longer  a  pUont  tooL 
His  character  has  to  be  ruined,  and  we  are  experts  in  the  business.  John 
O'Neill  is  become  a  second  John  O'Mahoney,  and  No.  10  W.  Fourth  8t,  a  tloSat 
Mansion.  We,  the  representatives  of  the  people,  fifteen  in  number,  no  matter 
if  there  is  only  a  quorum  of  eight,  with  the  Irhh  American,  United  Iriahman, 
and  Irish  liepuhlic  at  our  back,  can  make  short  work  of  him.  Some,  who  may 
happen  to  know  better,  will  not  believe  us,  but  the  masses  who  know  nothing 
of  the  facts  in  the  cose,  will  take  the  word  of  fiiteen  men  before  that  of  one 
man,  especially  as  they  form  a  delegated  body  authorized  to  speak  for  the  Organ- 
ization. Carey,  McCloud,  Hynes,  Gibbons,  Dunne,  Fitzgerald,  and  McEinley, 
are  thoroughly  conversant  with  their  parts.  Taking  our  experience  into  con- 
sideration, failure  is  impossible.  Our  work,  indeed,  is  not  very  honorable,  but 
that  matters  not ;  have  we  not  fought  John  O'Mahony  and  can  we  not  fight  any 
other  man  ?  Some  of  our  number  ore  rather  too  scrupulous  to  co-operate,  but 
they  are  not  many,  and  will.not  offer  much  active  opposition,  while  we  have  such 
resources  for  defamation  at  our  dispose  In  the  end,  they,  too,  will  have  to 
fall  into  line,  [some  of  them,  however,  vu  their  credit,  disappointed  this  expec- 
tation]. If  we  could  only  force  a  quarrel  with  O'Neill ;  but  it  is  now  evident 
that  we  must  begin  it  ourselves,  since,  in  spite  of  repeated  provocationo,  he 
keeps  his  temper.  Quarrel,  however,  we  must,  at  all  hazards.  We  havo  placed 
ourselves  on  record  in  favor  of  a  fight ;  that  t'\ct  we  will  publish  tq  the  world, 
but,  just  as  we  are  almost  ready  to  meet  the  enemy,  we  will  have  to  stop,  in 
order  to  save  the  honor  of  the  Irish  race,  and  the  very  Organization,  from  ruin. 
Happy  thought !  it  will  work  like  a  charm.  It  will  furnish  us  with  a  sufficient 
pretext  for  deferring  a  fight  for  the  next  half  century.  Should  he,  however, 
attempt  to  fight  without  our  permission,  [which  will  never  be  given,]  we  will 
see  to  it  that  the  movement  is  a  failure,  and  we  hav3  done  much  towards  that 
already  in  destroying  public  confidence.  We  will  then  throw  the  whole  blame 
on  him,  and  proclaim  to  the  world  our  own  wisdom  and  forethought  in  seeing 
disaster  ahead.  We  are  the  only  representatives  of  the  Irish  people,  and  we 
only  have  the  right  to  order  a  fight  for  Ireland." 

God  help  poor  Ireland,  if  she  has  to  remain  in  bondage  until  freed  by  such 
men ! 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  have  any  idea  that  the  co-operation  of  the 
Senate  at  the  time  of  the  movement  would  have  enabled  us  to  succeed,  for  I 
have  not  The  one  great  essential  to  success,  apart  from  a  supply  of  arms,  was 
a  sufficient  number  of  men  with  faith  and  confidence  enough  in  the  leaders  to 
inaugurate  the  movement  and  transport  the  war  material  across  the  line  before 


H 


OFnoiAL  Beport  or 


either  government  could  know  of  their  dosigns.  In  this  Iaj  the  great  diffl- 
otdty.  Once  the  moyement  wan  fairly  set  on  foot,  no  man  or  set  of  men,  no 
matter  what  their  protonBious,  could  keep  Iriahmen  from  fighting  for  their 
country.  Honce  the  start  woa  everything.  The  Senate,  through  itH  faUe  prom- 
ines  and  resolutiona  daring  the  last  two  years,  had  bo  often  deceived  the  people 
that  nearly  all  confidence  was  lost  in  that  honorable  body,  and  since  I,  as  Pres- 
ident, was  the  principal  representative  of  the  Senate,  many  who  at  first  had  all 
faith  in  my  honesty  of  purpose,  began  to  have  serious  misgivings  of  my  sincerity. 
I  at  no  time,  however,  made  a  promise  to  the  people  which  was  not  made  in 
perfect  good  faith,  and  to  be  carried  out  at  the  risk  of  my  life. 

In  1866  the  Senate,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  thousands  of  soldiers,  both  Irish 
and  American,  just  returned  f^om  the  battle-fields  of  a  great  civil  war,  were 
ready  to  embark  in  any  enterprise  of  the  kind,  and  that  their  chief  military 
officer  was  Qen.  T.  W.  Sweeny,  one  of  the  most  popular  soldiers  of  the  Irish 
race,  were  unable,  after  making  the  greatest  exertions,  to  place  more  men  on 
the  border  within  three  days  after  commencing  to  move,  than  we  did  within  the 
same  period.  It  was  not  until  after  the  fight  at  Bidgeway  that  the  people 
began  to  put  faith  in  the  enterprise,  end  that  men  flocked  to  the  border.  Hod 
the  fight  at  Eccles  Hill  gone  on — it  had  hardly  commenced  when  I  was  ar- 
rested— and  been  a  second  "  Bidgeway,"  and  had  we  remained,  as  in  186G,  two 
days  on  the  other  side,  I  h^re  no  doubt  that  there  would  have  been  a  greater 
rush  to  the  bbrder  than  occurred  in  1866.  That  they  would  have  come  too  lata 
to  be  of  any  practical  service,  I  also  believe  ;  for  after  the  first  few  days  the 
enemy  was  well  prepared,  and  the  United  States  Government  ready  to  intercept 
us.  In  1866  the  entire  blame  of  the  fiailure  fell  on  the  shoulders  of  Oen. 
Sweeny ;  in  1870,  Oen.  O'Neill  is  the  only  one  censured.  In  1866  James 
Stephens  denounced  the  movement  as  treason  to  Ireland ;  in  1870  James  Gib- 
bons begins  where  Stephens  left  off.  So  it  goes.  I  do  not  know  whether  Gib- 
bons went  to  Washington  and  dined  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  in  the 
evening  had  himself  serenaded,  and  made  a  speech  from  the  balcony  at  Wil- 
lard's,  denouncing  the  movement,  or  not — all  of  which  Stephens  is  said  to  have 
done — but  he  issued  a  proclar  ation  which  will  be  read  by  posterity,  and  which 
no  dcubt  pleased  him  quite  as  welL 

In  1866,  people  generally  supposed,  myself  among  the  number,  that  our 
movement  was  nipped  in  the  bud  by  the  United  States  Government,  but,  ouch 
was  not  the  case.  On  the  contrary,  we  had  opportunities  afforded  us  such 
as  we  oould  not  again  hope  for.  The  most  that  we  could  safely  calculate  upon 
before  the  direct  interference  of  the  U.  S.  Government,  was  three  days,  and  all 
of  that  time  was  allowed  us.  With  a  position  secured  on  the  other  side,  men 
would  afterwards  join  us  despite  the  vigilance  of  the  Government.  My  own 
arrest  by  Gen.  Foster  was  purely  accidental.  He  had  no  soldiers  to  assist  him 
in  stopping  the  movement.  I  have  no  fault,  therefore,  to  find  with  the  action 
of  the  Government ;  for,  while  it  is  its  bounden  duty  to  preserve  the  neutrality 
laws,  when  it  is  evident  that  they  are  in  danger  of  inMngement,  we  had 
every  reasonable  opportunity  for  evading  the  Government.  The  failure  of 
the  movement  is  rather  due  to  the  failure  of  our  men  to  come  up  in  time. 

The  earnest  co-operation  of  the  Senate  could  not  have  improved  our  chances 
of  success,  since  both  Governments  would  have  been  prepared  to  stop  us  at  the 
very  start,  as  they  would  long  beforehand  have  been  apprised  of  our  design.   It 


stiil 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Oamaoa.  M 

woald  he  impoflsible  for  that  body  to  keep  raoh  a  secret  At  one  of  their  meet- 
ings, held  in  Pittabargb,  Pa.,  June  a9th,  1869,  it  woh  determined,  in  peoret  Mil- 
lion, to  oommenoe  a  movement  on  the  16th  of  the  following  September.  The 
first  I  knew  of  their  having  fixed  the  date  waa  gleaned  from  the  columns  of  a 
Canadian  newspaper.  The  sincerity,  however,  of  this,  their  resolution,  may  be 
indeed  from  the  foot  that,  before  adjourning,  they  pledged  themselves,  each  to 
go  to  work  in  his  respectivo  locality  from  the  date  of  their  return  home  until 
the  10th  of  August,  when  they  were  to  reassemble  in  New  York  to  moke  final 
arrangements,  and  there  remain  until  the  outset  of  the  movement  This  solemn 
pledge  to  work  actively  for  the  cause  was  broken  by  nearly  all  of  them.  A  few 
of  them  came  to  New  York  at  the  appointed  time,  but  it  waa  not  until  after  the 
lapse  of  a  week  or  ten  days  that  they  were  able  to  have  a  quorum  ;  and  when 
they  did  meet  they  had  other  matters  beside  the  preparations  for  a  fight  with 
the  enemy  to  occupy  their  time.  A  quarrel  with  the  President  was  found  much 
more  congenial  to  thi  r  tastes.  It  is  noedleas  to  say  that  they  did  not  remain 
in  session  until  the  army  of  the  F.  B.  took  the  field. 

Now,  however,  the  long  desired  period  for  loud  talk  and  patriotic  inactivity 
has  anived.  They  can  now  safely  pass  warlike  resolutions  and  issue  addresses 
to  their  hearts'  content  Nobody  for  the  futme  will  be  so  fool-hardy  as  to  insist 
npon  a  practical  compliance  with  their  promises,  and  the  farce  will  be  permit- 
ted to  go  on  without  interruption.  Gibbons  may  now  play  without  fear  of  re- 
buke his  humorous  role  of  military  critic  and  instructor.  Poor  old  man  I  the 
martial  spirit  still  predominates  ;  let  it  have  vent — the  display  will  give  him 
pleasure  and  harm  no  one. 

But  why  should  I  speak?  I,  the  inmate  of  a  cimmon  jail,"  "the  associate 
of  thieves,  house-burners,  and  every  class  of  disreputable  characters  ;"  an  "ob- 
ject of  pity  and  contempt"  and  the  "laughing-stock  of  all  1 "  Perhaps  so.  I 
still,  however,  claim  the  right  to  speak,  as  one  who  joined  the  Fenian  Brother- 
hood to  the  direct  injury  of  his  every  personal  interest  in  the  hope  of  serving 
Ireland ;  as  one  who,  with  others,  risked  his  life  for  Ireland  under  circum- 
stances when  few  would  have  ventured,  and,  in  so  doing,  won  for  the  Brother- 
hood the  only  victory  it  ever  achieved  on  the  field  ;  as  one  who,  for  the  last 
eighteen  months,  suffered  untold  tortures  sooner  than  have  an  open  rupture 
with  men  who  falsely  professed  to  be  working  with  him  for  Ireland  ;  as  ono 
who  robbed  his  family  and  his  friends  (his  creditora)  of  the  time  and  labor 
which  properly  belonged  to  them,  and  who,  with  half  of  the  energy  devoted  to 
his  business  which  he  devoted  to  the  cause,  would  have,  at  least,  a  Lome  and 
the  comforts  of  life  for  his  vnfe  and  children  during  his  enforced  abs  mce  in 
prison,  instead  of  leaving  them  entirely  destitute,  without  a  dollar  to  '>ay  the 
grocery  bill  or  the  month's  rent  I  still  claim  the  right  to  speak,  as  one  acoused 
of  squandering  the  hard-earned  money  of  our  people  by  the  very  parties  who 
induced  him  by  their  li^se  ^^romises  to  abandon  his  only  means  of  support — 
his  private  business,  and  who  was  afterwards  compelled  to  deprive  his  family 
ev3n  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  in  order  to  n<  "it  his  obUgations,  and  who  has 
now  lain  for  several  weeks  in  prison  without  a  dollar  to  fee  a  lawyer,  and  with 
the  prospect  of  being  immured  within  its  walls  for  an  indefinite  period.  I  claim 
the  privilege  to  speak,  as  one  who  defies  the  most  moligx^mt,  lying  Bconndrel 
among  his  accusers  to  point  to  a  single  dollar  of  Fenian  money  by  him  Bqnondered 
(r  misappropriated.    In  spite  of  the  charges  to  the  contrary,  made  by  the 


N 


»mf"?^mm^''W"^''"^' 


86 


OmouL  Bepobt 


II 


nncAOCLATi  S«nalon,  Oibboni,  Donne,  HjmeH  and  MoOIond,  nt  the  Giioago 
Oonrention,  I  ahall  b«  able  to  proro  the  honeHty  of  my  dealings  with  the  Or- 
ganlzatioa  from  thoir  own  evidence  in  tho  general  statement  of  my  oonnootion 
with  tho  Fenian  Brotherhood,  soon  to  be  published. 

To  the  qneation,  "What  is  become  of  the  moneys  paid  into  the  Fenian  Trea- 
sury ?"  the  beat  answer  is  contained  in  the  following  interrogatory:  "  How  were 
all  the  arms,  war  material  and  clothing,  which  thooaands  saw  at  Franklin  and 
Malone,  procured  and  transported  to  the  border  7"  The  alteration  of  breeph- 
loaders  alone  cost,  according  to  Mr.  Meehan,  over  sixty  thousand  dollars  ;  and 
tho  Organization  is  in  possession  of  ammunition  and  war  material  besides  that 
collected  at  Mnlono  and  Franklin. 

In  some  few  instances  where  I  attended  the  meetings  of  circles,  or  accom- 
panied special  committees  appointed  to  collect  ftmds  in  Brooklyn  and  New  York, 
the  money  was  given  to  me  to  be  turned  into  the  treasury.  The  Treasurer's 
books  and  the  financial  statements  will  show  that  such  moneys  were  in  every 
instance  handed  into  the  treasury,  and  the  circles  properly  credited  therewith. 
The  only  money  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  with  which  I  have  had  anything  to 
do,  from  the  tin.  j  I  became  President,  in  January,  1868,  op  to  the  Congress  held 
in  Now  York,  last  April,  was  that  allr  jd  me  for  salary  and  travelling  expenses ; 
the  vouchers  for  which  were  examined  and  approved  by  the  representatives  of 
the  Organization  at  the  Congresses  held  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  One 
of  my  chief  defamers,  at  present,  James  Oibbons,  was  a  party  to  their  exami- 
nation and  approval.  My  travelling  expenses  were  heavy,  because  I  travelled 
a  great  deal  at  the  urgent  desire  of  the  Senate,  to  further  the  interests  of  the 
Organization.  For  ev  3ry  dollar  I  have  received  since  the  adjournment  of  the 
New  York  Congress  I  am  prepared  to  furnish  the  necessary  vouchors. 

Nothing  but  the  mfin,  lying,  cowardly,  attacks  made  upon  my  character,  both 
privately  and  publicly,  in  connection  with  the  funds  of  ^e  Organization,  could 
justify  me.  In  referring  to  my  business  or  family  affairs  in  this  statement  The 
task  is  not  a  'pleasant  one,  but  it  has  been  forced  upon  me  by  unprincipled 
asHi  Hants. 

Finally,  I  claim  the  privilege  to  speak,  as  one  who  (notwithstanding  the  on- 
just  and  false  reports  of  newspapers  and  newspaper  correcpondents,  including 
"Druid"  (James  Brennon)  of  the  Irish  American,  the  meanest  and  most  cow- 
ardly liar  of  them  all— a  man  who,  in  the  past,  talked  loudly  and  learnedly  of 
war,  but  who  managed  to  keep  at  a  safe  distance  during  the  danger,  and  who 
afterwards  come  to  survey  the  situation,  and.  Jackal-like,  pilfer  the  character  of 
true  men,)  as  one  I  say,  who  has 'materially  aided  in  preparing  the  Irish  people 
to  strike  a  blow  at  England,  such  as  she  had  not  received  for  ages.  It  ttHI  be 
long,  I  fear,  before  Irishmen  have  another  such  opportunity,  and,  that  the  one 
just  past  was  not  taken  advantage  of,  they  have  but  their  own  supineness  to 
blame. 

To  that  poition  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  having  for  its  object  the  freedom 
of  Ireland  through  an  invasion  of  Canada,  I  now  bid  farewell,  and  hereby  resign 
all  connection,  official  or  otherwise,  with  it.  I  was  an  Irishman,  a  patriot,  and 
a  soldier  for  Ireland,  before  I  ever  had  the  honor  of  being  enrolled  a  Fenian. 
I  am  all  three  still.  My  connection  with  the  Organization  has  neither  mode 
'  me  a  "coward,"  a  "traitor  to  Ireland,"  nor  a  "dishonest  man." 
I  remain,  gentlemen, 

Very  respectfully,  your  ob't  servant, 

JOHN  O'NEILL. 


OFriOIAI*  RBPORT 


or  Toa 


BAHLE  OF  RIDGEWAY,  CANADA  WEST, 


FOUQBT  JUNE  M,  1866. 


HxiDQUABTXna,  LjLMM  Ebib  Dcp't,  L  B.  a.  ) 
June  27th,  1866.  f 

Bbxo.  Oairb  0.  0.  Tsna,  Ac^lt  Oenl.  L  B.  A. 

General: — The  following  ia  an  offloip.l  report  of  the  ftotion  of  the  men  tinder 
my  command,  from  the  time  I  loft  Nashville,  Tenn.,  May  27th,  1866,  until 
June  3d,  1866 : 

In  obedience  to  orders  reoeived  from  you,  while  I  yma  in  New  York,  I  left 
Nashville,  May  27th,  1866,  with  one  hundred  and  fifteen  (116)  men.  On  arriving 
At  LonisTille,  Ky.,  CoL  Owen  Starr,  in  command  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
(144)  men  joined  na ;  and  at  Indianapolis  we  were  joined  by  about  one  hundred 
(100)  men  under  the  command  of  Gapt  Haggerty.  We  all  arrived  at  Gleveland, 
Ohio,  on  the  night  of  the  28th  ult.,  where  I  supposed  we  would  attempt  to 
cross  the  lake.  But  no  orr^ers  to  that  efTeot  had  been  receivet^  there  ;  nor  any 
person  there  that  could  give  us  any  definite  information  on  the  subject. 

During  the  day  of  the  29th,  Senator  Morrison  arrived  from  New  York  with 
orders  and  instructions  from  General  Sweeny,  for  Brig.  Q«n.  Lynch.  In  the 
absence  of  Gen.  Lynch,  the  senior  ofScer  present  was  to  receive  the  orders, 
and  carry  out  the  instructions,  which  were  :  to  effect  a  crossing  at  that  point. 
It  was  at  once  decided  that  GoL  Owen  Starr  should  command  the  expedition. 
But  during  that  afternoon  Senator  Bannon  reoeived  a  telegram  from  General 
Sweeny,  in  answer  to  one  which  he  sent  in  the  morning,  directing  the  men  as- 
sembled at  Gleveland,  to  proceed  at  once  to  BufKdo,  where  Gapt  Hynes,  his 
Asst.  Adjt.  Genl.,  had  been  sent  with  instructions  and  orders. 

We  arrived  in  BuflUo  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  and  reported  to  Gapt 
Hynes.    Here  the  men  were  distributed  in  squads  all  over  the  city. 

I  was  informed  by  Gapt  Hynes,  that  he  looked  for  General  Lynch,  or  some 
other  general  officer,  to  command  an  expedition  which  was  ordered  to  effect  a 
crossing  into  Ganada  at  this  point,  and  that  arrangements  were  being  made  to 
secure  transportation,  etc.  He  at  the  same  time  requested  myself  and  the 
other  officers  present,  to  assist  him  in  making  the  necessary  arrangements, 
which  we  did. 

The  night  of  the  31st  of  May,  being  the  time  appointed  for  crossing  ;  and  as 
Gen.  Lynch  or  no  other  general  officer  had  arrived  ;  and  as  I  was  the  senior 
officer  present,  Gapt  Hynes  informed  me  that  I  should  command  the  expedi- 
tion, end  proceeded  verbally  to  give  me  a  few  general  instructions,  as  to  what  I 
should  attempt  on  the  other  side.  I  received  no  written  instructions,  and  had 
•no  map  of  the  country. 


■KMHM 


m 


38 


Official  Report  of 


li 


»   ! 


I  at  once  instrncted  the  officers  to  look  up  the  men,  and  have  them  ready  to 
march  at  a  moment's  notice  ;  and  at  11  o'clock  P.  M.,  received  a  written  order 
from  Captain  Hynes,  placing  me  in  command  of  the  expedition. 

The  number  of  men  assembled  here,  which  was  reported  to  me,  was  about 
eight  hundred  (800)— detachments  from  the  following  regiments  :  13th  Infan- 
try, CoL  John  O'Neill ;  17th  Infantry,  CoL  Owen  Starr ;  18th  Infantry,  Lieut. 
Col.  Grace ;  7th  Infantry,  Col.  John  Hoy ;  and  two  (2)  companies  &om  In- 
diana under  Captain  Haggerty ;  but  the  number  of  men  that  could  be  got 
together  when  we  crossed  did  not  exceed  six  hundred  (600)  men. 

About  12  o'clock  the  men  commenced  moving  t'>  a  point  called  Lower  Black- 
rock,  about  three  miles  down  the  river  ;  and  at  S.bi)  a.  m.,  on  the  Ist  of  June, 
all  of  the  men,  with  the  arms  and  ammunition,  were  on  board  four  canal  boats, 
and  towed  across  the  Niagara  Biver  to  a  point  on  the  Canadian  side,  called 
Waterloo  :  and  at  4  o'clock  a.  m.  ,  the  Irish  flag  was  planted  on  British  soil  by 
Col.  Starr,  who  had  command  of  the  first  two  boats. 

On  landing  I  immediately  ordered  the  telegraph  wires  leading  from  the  town 
to  be  cut ;  and  sent  a  party  to  destroy  the  railroad  bridge  leading  to  Port  Col- 
borne. 

CoL  Starr,  in  command  of  the  Kentucky  and  Indiana  troops,  proceeded 
through  the  town  of  Erie  to  the  Old  Fort,  some  three  miles  distant  (up  the  river) 
and  occupied  it  for  a  short  time,  hoisting  the  Irish  flag. 

I  then  waited  on  the  Beeve  of  For^  Erie,  and  requested  him  to  see  some  of 
the  citizens  of  the  place  and  have  them  furnish  rations  for  my  men,  at  the  same 
time  assuring  him  that  no  depredations  on  the  citizens  would  be  permitted  by 
me,  as  we  had  come  to  drive  out  British  authority  from  the  soil,  and  not  for  the 
purpose  of  pillaging  the  citizens.  My  request  for  provisions  was  promptly, 
complied  with. 

About  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  I  moved  into  camp  on  Newbiggiu's  Farm,  situated  on 
Frenchman's  Creek,  four  miles  down  the  river  from  Fort  Erie,  where  I  remained 
till  10  o'clock  p.  M. 

During  the  afternoon,  Capt.  Donohue  of  the  18th,  while  out  in  command  of  a 
foraging  party,  on  the  road  leading  to  Chippewa,  came  up  with  the  enemy's 
scouts,  who  fled  at  his  approach.  Later  in  the  afternoon,  I  sent  Col.  Hoy  with 
one  hundred  (100)  men  on  the  same  road.  He  also  came  up  with  some  scouts 
about  six  miles  from  camp.    Here  I  had  him  to  halt. 

By  this  time,  8  o'clock  p.  m.,  I  had  received  information  that  a  large  force  f 
the  enemy — said  to  be  Ave  thousand  strong — with  artillery,  were  advancing  in 
two  columns — one  from  the  direction  of  Chippewa,  and  the  other  from  Polrt 
Colbome ;  also,  that  troops  from  Fort  Golborne  were  to  attack  me  from  the 
Lake  side. 

Here  truth  compels  me  to  make  an  admission  that  I  would  fain  keep  from  the 
public.  Many  of  the  men  who  crossed  over  with  me  the  night  before,  managed 
to  leave  the  command  during  the  day — some  recrossed  to  Buffalo,  and  others 
remained  in  houses  around  Fort  Erie. 

On  account  of  this  shameful  desertion,  and  the  fiaot  that  arms  had  been  sent 
with  me  for  eight  hundred  (800)  n  en,  I  had  to  destroy  three  hundred  (300) 
stand  of  arms  to  prevent  them  falling  into  .L.e  hands  of  the  enemy.  At  this 
time  I  could  not  depend  on  more  than  five  hundred  (500)  men — about  one  tenth 
the  reported  number  of  the  enemy,  which  I  knew  were  surrounding  me — rather  i 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


39 


a  critical  position ;  bat  I  had  been  sent  to  accomplish  a  certain  object,  and  I 
was  deteimined  to  succeed 

At  10  o'clock  p.  M.,  I  broke  camp  and  marched  towards  Chippewa ;  »vl^  at 
midnight  changed  direction  and  moved  on  the  Limestone  Bidge  road,  le'.iding 
towards  Bidgeway — halting  a  few  hours  on  the  way  to  rest  the  men  :  ♦^nis  for 
the  purpose  of  meeting  the  column  advancing  from  Port  Golbome.  My  object 
was  to  get  between  the  two  columns,  and,  if  possible,  defeat  one  oi  them  before 
the  other  could  come  to  its  assistance. 

At  about  7  o'clock  a.  h.,  2d  of  June,  when  within  three  miles  of  Bidgeway, 
Col.  Owen  Starr,  in  command  of  the  advanced  guard,  came  up  with  the  ad- 
vance of  the  enemy  mounted,  and  drove  them  some  distance  till  he  got  within 
sight  of  their  skirmish  line,  which  extended  on  both  sides  of  the  road  about 
half  a  mile. 

By  this  time,  we  could  hear  the  whistle  of  the  raihroad  cars,  which  brought 
them  from  Port  Golbome.  I  immediately  advanced  my  skirmishers,  and  formed 
line  of  battle  behind  temporary  breat>t-works,  made  of  rails,  on  a  road  leading 
to  Fort  Erie,  and  running  pareJlel  with  the  enemy's  line.  The  skirmishing  was 
kept  up  over  half  an  )  our,  when  perceiving  the  enemy  flanking  me  on  both 
sides,  and  not  beinp  nble  to  draw  out  his  centre,  which  was  partially  protected 
by  thick  timber,  I  tell  back  a  few  hundred  yards  and  formed  a  new  line.  The 
enemy  seeing  I  had  only  a  few  men,  (about  four  hundred,)  and  supposing  that 
we  had  commenced  a  retreat^  advanced  rapidly  in  pursuit.  When  they  got 
close  enough,  w&  gave  them  a  volley  and  ^hen  charged  them, .driving  them 
nearly  three  miles  through  the  town  of  Bidgeway.  In  their  hasty  retreat,  they 
threw  away  knapsacks,  guns  and  everything  that  was  likely  to  retard  their 
speed,  and  left  some  ten  or  twelve  killed  and  twenty-five  or  thirty  wounded, 
with  twelve  prisoners  in  our  hands.  Amongst  the  killed  was  Lieut.  McAhem, 
and  amongst  the  wounded  Lieut.  Buth,  both  of  the  Queen's  Own.  I  gave  up 
the  pursuit  about  a  mile  beyond  Bidgeway. 

Although  we  had  met  and  defeated  the  enemy,  yet  our  position  was  still  a 
very  critical  one.  The  reported  strength  of  the  enemy  engaged  in  the  fight  was 
fourteen  hundred  ^^400),  composed  of  the  Queen's  Own,  the  13th  Hamilton 
Battalion,  and  other  troops.  A  regiment  which  bad  left  Port  Golbome,  was 
said  to  be  on  the  road  to  reinforce  them.  I  also  knew  that  the  column  from 
Chippewa  would  hear  of  the  fight,  and  in  all  probability  would  move  up  in  my 
rear. 

Thus  situated,  and  not  knowing  what  was  going  on  elsewhere,  I  debided  that 
my  best  poUcy  was  to  return  to  Fort  Erie,  and  ascertain  if  crossings  had  been 
made  at  other  points,  and  if  so,  I  was  willing  to  sacrifice  myself  and  my  noble 
little  command  for  the  sake  of  leaving  the  way  open,  as  I  felt  satisfied  that  a 
large  proportion  of  the  enemy's  forces  had  been  concentrated  against  me. 

I  collected  a  few  of  my  own  wounded  and  put  them  in  wagons,  and  for  want 
of  transportation,  had  to  leave  six  others  in  charge  of  the  citizens  who  promised 
to  look  after  them,  and  bury  the  dead  of  both  sides.  I  then  divided  my  com- 
mand, and  sent  one  half  under  Col.  Starr  down  the  railroad  to  destroy  it,  and 
bum  the  bridges  ;  and  with  the  other  half  took  the  pike  road  leading  to  Fort 
Erie.  Col.  Starr  got  to  the  old  fort  about  the  same  time  that  we  did  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Fort  Erie  {i  o'clock  p.  m.)  He  left  the  men  there  under  the  command 
of  Lieut. -CoL  Spaulding,  and  joined  me  in  a  skirmish  with  a  company  of  tho 


ssW 


0  Official  Bepobt  of 

Wdlmd  Battery,  \7hi0h  had  arriTed  there  from  Port  Golbome  in  the  morning, 
and  which  picked  up  a  few  of  our  men  who  had  etraggled  from  the  command 
the  day  before  ;  also  a  few  who  had  basely  fled  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy 
at  Bidgeway.  They  had  those  men  prisoners  on  board  of  the  steamer  Bobb. 
The  sUrmish  lasted  about  fifteen  minutes.  The  enemy  firing  from  the  houses, 
tltree  or  four  zii?n  were  killed,  and  some  eight  or  ten  were  wounded  on  each 
side. 

It  was  here  that  Lieut. -<Col.  Bailey  was  wonndod  while  gallantly  leadixkg  the 
advance  on  one  side  of  tiie  town.  We  took  some  forty-five  (45)  of  the  enemy 
prisoners,  among  them  Oapt  King,  who  was  wounded,  (leg  since  amputated,) 
Lieut  McDonald,  Boyal  Navy,  and  commander  of  the  steamer  Bobb,  and 
Lieut.  Numo,  Boyal  Artillery.  I  then  collected  my  men  and  posted  Lieat.-Col. 
Grace  with  one  hundred  (100)  men  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  guarding  the 
road  leading  to  Chippewa,  while  with  the  remainder  of  the  command  I  pro- 
ceeded to  the  old  fort 

About  6  o'clock  a.  m.,  I  sent  word  to  Capt  Hynes  and  our  friends  at  Buffalo, 
that  the  enemy  could  surround  us  before  morning,  with  five  thousand  (5000) 
men,  folly  provided  with  artillery,  and  that  my  little  command,  which  had  by 
this  time  considerably  decreased,  could  not  hold  out  long ;  but  that  if  a  move- 
ment was  going  on  elsewhere,  I  was  perfectly  willing  to  make  the  old  fort  a 
slaughter-pen,  which  I  knew  it  would  be  the  next  day  if  I  remained.  For  I 
tBOuld  never  have  surrendered. 

Many  of  my  men  had  not  a  mouthful  to  eat  since  Friday  morning  ;  and  none 
of  them  had  eaten  anything  since  the  night  before,  and  all,  after  marching 
nearly  forty  (40)  miles  and  fighting  two  battles— though  the  last  could  only, 
properly,  be  called  a  skirmish— they  were  completely  worn  out  with  hunger 
and  fatigue. 

On  receiving  information  that  no  crossing  had  been  effected  elsewhere,  I  sent 
word  to  have  transportation  famished  immediately ;  and  about  10  o'clock  p.  m. 
Capt.  Hynes  came  from  Buffalo,  and  informed  me  that  he  had  made  arrange- 
ments for  us  to  recross  the  river. 

Previous  to  this  time,  some  of  the  officers  and  men,  realizing  the  danger  of 
our  position,  availed  themselves  of  small  boats  and  stole  off,  leaving  their  com- 
rades, as  they  supposed,  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  enemy.  But  the  greater 
portion  of  the  officers  and  men  remained  until  the  transportation  arrived,  which 
was  about  12  o'clock  on  the  night  of  Jtme  2nd  ;  and  about  2  o'clock  a.,  u.,  on 
the  morning  of  the  3rd,  all,  except  a  few  wounded  men,  were  safely  on  board 
a  large  scow  attached  to  a  tugboat,  which  hauled  us  into  American  waters. 
Here  we  were  hailed  by  the  tug  Harrison,  belongI:>g  to  the  U.  S.  steamer  Mich- 
igan, having  on  board  one  12-pounder  pivot  gun,  which  fired  across  our  bows 
and  threatened  to  sink  us  unless  we  hauled-to  and  surrendered.  With  the 
request  we  complied,  not  only  because  we  feared  the  12-pounder,  or  the 
still  more  powerful  guns  of  the  Michigan,  which  lay  close  by,  but  because  we 
respected  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  in  defence  of  which  many  of  us 
bad  fought  and  bled  during  the  late  war.  We  would  have  as  readily  surren- 
dered to  an  infant  bearing  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  as  to  Acting  Mas- 
ter Morris,  of  the  tug  Harrison,  who  is  himself  an  EngUshman.  The  number 
thus  surrendered  was  three  hundred  and  seventeen  men,  including  officers. 
I  The  officers  were  taken  on  board  the  "Michigan,"  and  were  well  treated  by 


MiiiitillfiililHi 


f 


; ;  and  none 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada.  4^ 

Oapt.  Biyson  and  the  gentlemanly  officers  of  Ms  ship  ;  while  the  men  were  kept 
on  the  open  scow,  which  was  very  filthy,  without  any  accommodation  what< 
ever,  and  barely  large  enough  for  them  to  tnm  round.  Fart  of  the  time  the 
rain  ppured  down  on  them  in  torrents. 

I  am  not  certain  who  is  to  blame  for  this  cruel  treatment ;  but  whoever  the 
guilty  parties  are,  they  should  be  loathed  and  despised  by  all  men. 

The  men  were  kept  on  board  the  scow  for  four  days,  and  then  discharged  on 
their  own  recognizance  to  appear  at  Canandaigua  on  the  19  th  inst  to  answer  to 
the  charge  of  having  violated  the  Neutrality  Laws.  The  officers  were  admitted 
to  bail. 

The  report  generally  circulated— and  I  might  say  generally  believed — that  I 
left  my  pickets  out,  and  that  they  were  captured  by  the  enemy,  is  entirely  false. 
Every  man  who  remained  with  the  command,  excepting  a  few  wounded,  had 
the  same  chance  of  escaping  that  I  had  myself. 

To  the  extraordinary  exertions  of  Oapt.  Wm.  J.  Hynes,*  Senator  Fitzgerald, 
and  our  friends  of  Buffalo,  P.  O'Ddy,  F.  B.  Gallagher,  Hugh  Mooney,  James 
Whelan,  Capt.  James  Doyle,  John  Connors,  Edward  Frawley,  James  J.  Crowley, 
M.  T.  Lynch,  James  Cronin,  and  Michael  Dunahey,  we  are  indebted  for  being 
able  to  Escape  from  the  Canadian  side.  CoL  H.  B.  Stagg  and  Capt.  McConvery 
of  Buffalo  were  also  very  efficient  in  doing  everything  in  their  power  for  us. 
Col.  Stagg  had  started  from  Buffalo  with  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  (250)  men 
to  reinforce  us,  but  the  niunber  was  too  small  to  be  of  any  use,  and  he  was  or- 
dered to  return.  Much  praise  is  due  to  Drs.  Trowbridge  and  Blanchard  of  Buf- 
falo, and  Surgeon  Donnelly  of  Pittsburgh,  for  their  untiring  attendance  on  the 
wounded. 

All  who  were  with  us  acted  their  parts  so  nobly  that  I  feel  a  little  delicacy  in 
making  special  mention  of  any,  and  shall  not  do  so  except  in  two  instances. 
One  in  the  case  of  Alichael  Cochrane,  color  sergeant  of  the  Indianapolis  Co., 
.  whose  gallantry  and  darinf  was  conspicuous  throughout  the  fight  at  Ridgeway. 
I  have  since  learned  that  he  was  severely  wounded,  and  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy ;  the  other  in  that  of  Major  John  C.  Canty,  who  lived  at  Fort  Erie.  He 
risked  everything  he  possessed  on  earth,  and  acted  his  part  gallantly  on  the 
field. 

On  account  of  being  made  a  prisoner  so  soon,  and  not  boing  able  to  get  com- 
plete reports  from  the  regimental  commanders,  this  report  is  not  as  complete  as 
I  could  wish  it  to  be  *,  and  as  those  officers  are  not  now  subject  trt  my  orders,  I 
would  respectfully  request  that  you  order  each  regimental  commander  who 
was  with  the  expedition,  to  forward  the  names  of  the  officers  and  men  who  base- 
ly deserted  the  command,  that  they  may  for<»ver  be  expelled  from  the  Army  of 
Lreland,  and  their  names  forwarded  to  the  different  circles  throughout  the  coun- 
try, so  that  they  may  be  held  up  to  the  ridicule  and  contempt  of  all  honest  and 
patriotic  Irishmeni. 

I*  Capt.  Hynes,  in  reporting  to  me,  verbally,  the  efforts  he  had  made  to  procure  transporta- 
tion and  get  us  back  across  the  rivor,  with  that  peculiar  modesty  which  is  all  his  own,  took 
great  credit  to  himself  for  his  skillful  management  of  the  affair.  But  subsequent  reports  of 
F.  B.  OaUagher,  P.  O'Day,  and  numerous  other  citizens  of  Buffalo,  go  to  show,  that  if  they 
had  not  taken  the  matter  entirely  out  of  his  hands,  and  attended  to  it  themselTca  in  spite  of 
him,  through  his  presumption  and  arrogance  we  sliould  likely  have  had  to  remain  on  the  other 
■Ide  until  the  enemy  came  up  the  following  morning. 


i^-au^Hl^ 


•ii^agjttmmiiifitmijui^ 


!      I 


I  'III 

n.i- 


4fi  The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 

In  t!he  fight  at  Bidgeway  and  the  skirmish  at  Fort  Erie,  as  near  aa  I  can  ascer^ 
tain,  our  loss  was  eight  killed  and  fifteen  wounded.  Among  the  killed  was 
Lieut.  E.  B.  Lonnergan,  a  brave  young  officer  of  Bufifalo.  Of  the  enemy,  thirty 
(30)  were  killed,  and  one  hundred  (100)  wounded. 

I  refer  you  to  the  accompanying  reports  of  Col.  Owen  Starr,  Col.  John  Hoy, 
Capts.  Shields,  Conlon,  and  Mundny,  for  individual  acts  of  bravery ;  and  would 
recommend  that  all  officers  who  remained  with  the  command,  receive  promo- 
tion to  one  gntde  higher  than  they  had,  and  the  sergeants,  corporals,  and  pri- 
vates recommended  by  their  immediate  commanding  officers,  receive  promotion 
to  fill  their  places.  I  would  also  recommend  that  Capt  Bodolph  Fitzpatrick, 
of  iuy  staff,  be  appointed  Major  in  the  A.  G.  Dept 

(Signed)  JOHN  O'NEILL, 

Brig.  Geni.  I.  L.  A. 

Note.— The  number  of  the  enemy  killed  and  wounded,  was  made  up  from  penonal  obser- 
vation, reports  of  prisoners,  and  general  report  at  the  time.  I  believe,  however,  that  th* 
flgnree  are  too  high,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  the  exact  numbers. 


^"7- 


APPENDIX. 


^♦» 


BEPOET  OF  MAJOR  DANIEL  MUEPHT. 

*  Bbisoxfobt,  Ct,  Jane,  1870. 

Gek.  John  O'Necu., 

Bmr  Sir,  and  Brother:— Tn  compliance  with  your  request  for  a  report  of  my 
comiection  with  the  late  disastrous  movement  on  Canada,  and  of  the  part  I 
took  in  that  affair,  I  hereby  most  respectfully  state  the  following  facts : 

On  May  16th,  1870, 1  received  orders  from  the  Headquarters  of  the  P.  B.,  (of 
which  I  have  not  a  copy,)  directing  me  (as  captain)  to  prepare  my  company  at 
once  for  a  forward  movement,  as  final  orders  would  be  issued  in  a  few  days. 

I  need  hardly  assure  you  that  I  was  much  surprised  at  this,  for  it  will  be  re- 
membered by  many  of  the  delegates  of  the  New  York  Congress,  (held  April 
19th,  1870,)  as  well  as  by  yourself,  I  presume,  that  I  declined  having  anything 
to  do  with  a  movement  which  I  believed  to  be  premature,  and  supported  only 
by  a  fragment  of  the  Irish  people.  This  sentiment  I  gave'  utterance  to  in  the 
Congress  ;  and  I  may  here  add,  it  was  the  sentiment  of  the  best  men  compos- 
ing that  bouy  outside  Manhattan,  and  Gren.  J.  J.  Donnelly.  I  went  farther,  by 
informL?3!  that  body  that  they  could  not  depend  on  any  men  from  Connecticut 
to  inaugurate  the  movement,  as  I  believed  the  Organization  in  that  State  to  be 
demoralized,  which  assertion  afterwards  proved  true.  At  these  remarks  Oen. 
J.  J.  Donnelly  hcaored  me  by  descending  from  his  dignified  position,  as  Speaker 
of  th$  House,  in  order  to  reply  and  counteract  their  apparent  effects,  if  possi- 
ble. This  he  accompUshed  to  his  entire  satisfaction,  being  well  adapted  and 
fully  competent  to  control  the  opinions  of  such  an  audience  as  he  was  then  ad- 
dressing, to  neither  of  which  qualities  do  I  lay  claim.  This  gentleman  con- 
cluded his  speech  with  the  following  declaration,  as  near  as  I  can  remember, 
and  for  the  falsity  of  which  I  hope  he  will  now  answer  to  the  Irish  people,  or 
at  least  to  that  portion  of  them  who  contributed  of  their  limited  means,  as  far 
as  in  them  lay,  to  the  support  of  the  F.  B. ,  and  the  purchase  of  that  war  mate- 
rial which  was  squandered  on  the  frontier  and  stolen  by  the  Canadians : 

"It  makes  little  difference  whether  Capt.  Murphy  or  the  men  of  Bridgeport 
take  part  in  the  movement  or  not ;  whether  the  men  of  Connecticut  take  part 
in  it  or  not ;  there  are  men  enough  without  them,  who  have  had  their  transpor- 
tation money  in  their  pockets  and  their  rations  cooked  for  the  past  week,  and 
the  movement  will  be  made."  Here  I  dropped  the  matter  with  the  remark  that, 
if  they  were  determined  to  move,  I  should  place  no  barrier  in  the  way,  and  sub- 
sequent events  prove  that  I  have  kept  my  promise.  Did  Gen.  Donnelly  keep 
his  ?  In  order  to  show  the  value  of  promises  made  at  thoea  Congresses,  I  will 
cite  a  few  instances,  and  most  respectfully  ask  those  who  ought  to  know,  were 
the  promises  redeemed  ?  W.  J.  Davis,  of  Brooklyn,  promised  $5, 000 .00  in  oeven 
days  ;  Oen.  DoniieUy  the  same  ;  others  promised  according  to  the  temperature 


^■'""!"**^8ff9K^I'{ 


IS" 


r      1 


!:ii!l 


Hii 


44 


Obticial  Beport  of 


of  tlioir  pseudo  patriotism,  the  whole  amoanting  (on  paper)  to  $15,000.00.  Ao 
cording  to  the  report  of  the  military  committee  $30,000.00  was  deemed  neces- 
sary to  a  successful  inauguration  of  the  movement,  but  by  some  mathematical 
calculations  this  sum  was  subsequently  reduced  to  $15,000.00,  which  was  to  be 
paid  into  Headquarters  in  seven  days  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress. 
I  am  now  informed  by  you.  General,  and  Gen.  Donnelly,  also,  that  only  about 
$2,000.00  of  this  amount  was  receiv«d  at  Headquarters  in  thirty  days,  of 
which  the  few  patriotic  Irish  Nationalists  I  represented,  (after  promising  v 
nothing,)  furnished  $250.00. 

Now,  then,  in  the  face  of  these  facts  and  figures,  on  whose  shoulders  will  his- 
tory lay  the  cause  of  that  disastronp  movement,  with  scarce  one  dollar  in  the 
treasury  ?  I  will  leave  that  question  for  you.  General,  and  General  Donnelly, 
also,  to  answer.  If  desired,  I  will  give  the  names  of  all  the  parties  promising 
money  at  the  New  York  Congress,  that  the  world  may  know  who  those  parties 
are  who  urged  us  on  to  the  cannon's  mouth  and  then  deserted  us.  To  go  back 
to  the  preliminary  order  already  alluded  to,  upon  the  receipt  ol  it,  I  immediate- 
ly concluded  to  be  there  myself  at  least.  I  informed  a  few  friends  of  what  was 
on  foot,  and,  also,  of  my  decision  in  the  matter ;  the  result  of  this  was  that  on 
Saturday,  May  21st,  when  final  orders  were  received,  about  30  names  were  on 
the  roll,  all  of  whom  were  ready  and  anxious  to  be  the  first  in  the  field.  What 
were  we  to  do  on  Monday  morning  when  these  men  expected  to  leave  for  the 
front  ?  Not  one  dollar  was  in  the  treasury,  (in  fact,  we  had  neither  treasury 
nor  organization,)  but,  by  the  extraordinary  exertion  of  a  few  devoted  sons  of 
Ireland,  the  requisite  amount  (three  hundred  dollars)  was  raised,  and  at  11.30 
p.  M.,  we  were  all  on  board  the  train  for  St  Albans  via  Springfield,  some  of  us 
paying  our  own  fare. 

I  might  mention  here,  that  before  leaving  Bridgeport,  Capt.  Fitzpatrick  was 
elected  captain  of  the  company,  I  having  previously  received  an  appointment 
as  Major,  which  position  it  was  not  my  intention  to  hold  when  in  the  field.  On 
arriving  in  Springfield  on  Tuesday  morning,  April  24th,  we  found  a  company 
from  Portland,  Connecticut,  under  the  command  of  a  Capt.  Ahem.  This  was 
the  first  time  on  the  route  that  we  learned  that  any  one  knew  of  the  movement. 
We  rested  a  few  hours  on  the  soft  side  of  a  j>lank  board  in  one  of  the  Spring- 
field halls,  kindly  given  to  us  gratis  by  the  proprietor.  At  8  o'clock  a.  m.,  we 
were  all  on  board  the  train  for  St.  Albans,  after  travelling  about  one  hundred 
miles  without  meeting  any  one  who  knew  anything  of  the  movement,  ci-  who 
was  bent  on  the  same  mission.  I  began  to  doubt  whether  there  ready  vf^  a 
movement  going  on  or  not  On  arriving  at  White  River  Junction,  we  were  re- 
inforced by  eight  men  from  Norwich,  Connecticut,  and  with  the  exception  of 
about  half  a  dozen  more  who  joined  us  on  the  road,  all  the  men  on  board  that 
train  bound  for  Canada  on  a  hostile  mission  were  Connecticut  men.  On  arriv- 
ing at  Essex  Junction,  we  were  met  by  about  170  men  from  New  York,  under 
the  command  of  Lieut  Col.  Leddy.  Somewhat  encouraged  at  this  acquisition 
to  our  numbers,  and  informed  by  some  of  those  braggarts  from  New  York  (of 
whom  I  shall  presently  speak)  that  thousands  more  were  coming  on  the  next 
train,  we  sent  the  following  dispatch  to  Bridgeport : 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


46 


XflBEC  JvNonoM,  Vt.,  ISmj  34th,  1870. 
John  CvhLaiux : 

Bib  :  Great  excitement  here ;  thonsands  of  men  on  the  road ;  send  men 
quick. 

D.   MUBPHT. 

The  result  of  the  above  was,  that  on  the  26th,  two  day  \fterwards,  28  more 
men  arrived  at  St.  Albans  from  Bridgeport,  under  the  command  of  Lieut  Fran- 
cis Connery. 

On  arriving  at  St  Albans,  where  we  expected  to  learn  that  at  least  the  men 
of  Boston  who,  five  weeks  previously,  according  to  Gen.  Donnelly's  statement, 
had  their  transportation  money  in  their  pocket  and  their  rations  cooked,  were 
there  before  us,  to  our  great  surprise  they  were  not  arrived,  nor  scarcely  any 
one  else,  according  to  information  received  from  citizens  of  Vermont.  Intoxi- 
cated, I  suppose,  with  an  intense  desire  to  meet  the  enemy  of  our  race  and 
country  in  the  open  field,  we  did  not  believe  the  citizens  of  Vermont  Gen. 
Donnelly  here  informed  me  that  Gen.  Lewis  had  crossed  the  border  'vith  about 
200  men,  and  that  two  or  three  hundred  more  were  on  the  way  to  reinforce  him, 
and  that  Gen.  O'Neill  was  at  the  front  and  would  make  a  crossing  next  morn- 
ing at  three  o'clock  with  all  the  available  force  he  could  comma£<i  ;  that  I  was 
expected  to  take  command  of -the  Connecticut  men  (which  now  numbered.about 
70)  and  make  a  forced  march  to  the  front  in  order  to  be  there  in  time  for  the 
crossing.  It  was  now  about  7  o'clock  p.  u.  as  we  took  up  our  line  of  march 
for  the  front  by  the  Fairfield  and  Highgate  road,  14  miles  from  Franklin,  the 
New  York  men  taking  the  Sheldon  road,  19  miles  from  Franklin.  There  being 
no  provision  made  for  hard  tack,  we  halted  about  two  miles  outside  the  town, 
sent  back  for  three  days'  rations,  paid  for  it  with  money  subscribed  by  the  citi- 
zens of  Bridgeport,  and  at  10  o'clock  p.  m.  started  for  the  front  under  the 
direction  of  a  guide,  who,  I  might  here  remark,  guided  us  seven  miles  out  of 
the  way  and  over  the  roughest  road  it  has  ever  been  my  experience  to  travel, 
and  in  one  of  the  darkest  nights.  Now  it  may  be  said  that  the  men  of  Bridge- 
port commenced  to  prove  themselves  Irishmen  worthy  of  the  name ;  during 
that  long  and  tedious  march  over  the  rugged  road  of  Northern  Vermont,  they 
never  faltered,  they  never  murmured.  They  knew  their  instructions,  and,  as 
thorough  revolutionists,  they  appreciated  the  value  of  time  by  moving  forward 
swiftly  and  pushing  the  Portland  men,  who,  I  must  say,  showed  a  very  poor 
disposition  to  get  to  the  front  As  for  the  men  of  Norwich,  they  could  not  be 
managed ;  they  put  up  in  a  bam  by  tho  road-side.  In  consequence  of  the  seven 
miles  extra  inflicted  on  us  by  our  faithful  EngUsh  guide,  for  such  we  found  him 
to  be  when  too  late,  we  did  not  arrive  at  the  front  until  6  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing of  the  25th  ;  every  Bridgeport  man  was  at  his  post  with  a  single  exception, 
and  this  through  mistake,  by  mixing  up  with  the  New  York  men  before  leaving 
St.  Albans. 

By  this  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  space  of  about  thirty  hours  we  traversed  350 
miles  of  railroad,  and  marched  through  thirty  miles  of  mud.  On  aniving  at 
the  front  almost  exhausted,  what  a  scene  presented  itself  to  men  who  had 
already  been  infbrmed  that  there  were  men  enough  without  them  ;  here  and 
there  were  seated  a  few  squads  of  men  ;  some  were  lying  around  loose  in  a  de- 
moralized condition  ;  and,  God  knows,  I  could  not  blame  them,  for,  perhaps 


■liniiniflllllV(i»iiiiiiH      1, 


I'l 


m 


46 


Ofwoial  Eeport  op 


some  of  them  were  ^old  the  same  ntory  that  was  told  to  me  ;  perhaps  many  of 
them  received  the  same  insult  that  I  received  ;  but,  whether  they  did  or  not,  in 
my  humble  opinion  they  ware  in  no  condition  for  an  offensive  movement     The 
first  cheering  news  we  received  was  that  Gen.  O'Neill  had  not  men  enough  to 
cross  the  line,  that  the  brave  Gen.  Lewis  had  deserted  his  post,  and  that  the 
whole  affair  had  gone  up.     We  hoped  against  hope  that  we  were  not  deceived 
by  some  one  ;  but  in  vain — we  were  ;  and  we  hope  now,  and  trust,  that  no  mat- 
ter what  the  difficulty  between  the  authors  of  that  unfortunate  movement,  and' 
other  contending  factions,  might  be,  a  satisfactory  explanation  will  be  given 
to  the  parties  who  risked  their  lives  in  such  a  hopeless  affair,  and  also  to  an  out- 
raged people  who  supported  the  movement  and  furnished  the  transportation 
and  war  material.    About  8  o'clock  I  received  warning  to  prepare  for  marching 
orders  at  a  moment's  notice.    For  some  time  it  was  a  question  in  my  mind 
whether  I  should  obey  this  order  or  not    I  really  had  no  command,  there  were 
only  about  60  men  from  Connecticut,  half  of  whom  would  not  go  into  the  en- 
emy's  country  without  five  hundred  men  went  and  did  not  go.    It  was  now 
about  10  o'clock,  and  the  braggarts  from  New  York,  who  left  St  Albans  the 
same  time  we  did,  had  not  yet  arrived.     I  finally  concluded  as  the  least  of  two 
evils' to  go  to  the  fi'ont ;  so  did  Gapt  Fitzpatriok  of  the  Bridgeport  company, 
whose  name  deserves  special  mention  here  for  bravery  and  gallant  conduct  in 
the  presence  of  the  enemy — also  the  company  he  had  the  honor  of  commanding. 
Gapt.  Ahem  and  his  lieutenant,  of  the  Portland  company,  after  failing  to  induce 
their  men  to  meet  the  enemy,  shouldered  muskets  themselves  and  fell  into  the 
ranks  with  the  men  of  Bridgeport  "^^  ^^^^  T>BSt  10  o'clock.    Gapt  Fitzpatrick's 
company,  now  numbering  about  iO  men,  were  inspected  by  Gen.  Donnelly,  and 
I  may  say  here,  they  were  the  only  men  on  the  ground  who  were  subjected  to 
inspection.    About  half  past  11  we  were  ordered  to  march,  and  in  less  than 
half  an  hour  we  were  engaged  with  the  enemy.    Before  leaving  the  road  leading 
from  the  United  States  to  Canada,  Francis  Caraher,  of  Bridgeport  fell  seriously 
wounded,  while  crossing  an  opeii  lot  which  led  to  the  woods  back  of  Bichards's 
house.     Lieut  Hope,  also  of  Bridgeport,  fell  seriously  wounded  and  was  car- 
ried from  the  field  under  a  shower  of  British  bullets  by  Sergeant  T.  J.  O'Don- 
nell,  of  the  same  company.    On  arriving  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  in  the  woods, 
a  brisk  fire  was  kept  up  with  the  enemy,  the  colors  of  the  Burlington  men  being 
placed  there  by  Gapt  Fitzpatrick,  around  which  every  man  from  Bridgeport 
with  a  few  others,  rallied.    At  this  time  about  70  men  were  present ;  where  the 
remainder  of  them  went,  I  cannot  inform  you ;  but  I  think.somo  of  them  went ' 
to  the  rear.     Soon  after,  I  was  ordered  by  you,  General,  to  take  charge  of  the 
men  while  you  went  back  to  huny  up  the  New  York  men,  who  left  St.  Albans 
when  we  did,  and  had  not  yet  arrived,  it  being  now  2  o'clock.    Before  assum- 
ing command,  we  retreated  out  of  range  of  the  enemy's  guns,  where  we  re- 
mained until  J.  Boyle  O'Reilly  returned  with  the  news  of  your  arrest,  wheie- 
upon  I  despatched  a  corporal's  guard  (not  having  but  about  two  good  ones)  to 
ascertain  whether  Gen.  Donnelly  and  his  corporal's  guard  were  still  shut  up  in 
Bichards's  house  and  bam.    In  an  hour  they  returned  with  the  information 
that  he  and  his  men  had  escaped.    At  this  time  (4  o'clock)  we  had  abont  40 
men,  and,  judging  it  useless  to  remain  there  longer,  I  returned  with  my  com- 
mand to  the  camp  ;  here  we  met  the  New  York  men  for  the  first  time  since  we 
parted  from  them  at  St  Albans.    They  managed  to  get  to  the  front  about  ten 


The  Atteupteo  Invasion  of  Canada. 


47 


hoars  later  thnn  we  did  ;  and  here,  amidst  a  set  of  far  more  demoralized  men 
than  it  had  been  our  misfortune  to  meet  in  the  Hame  place  in  1869,  we  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  we,  at  least,  were  humbugged  badly,  that  the  representa- 
tions made  to  us  were  false,  utterly  so,  and  then  steered  our  coarse  homeward, 
after  oaring  for  our  wounded  men  and  providing  for  thnlr  transit  to  St.  Albans, 
and  then  to  Bridgeport.  On  our  arrival  iu  the  first-named  place,  we  mot  at 
least  150  men  from  various  parts  of  Oonnootiont,  and  a  fine  body  of  men  they 
were  ;  I  believe  I  can  safely  say  they  were  much  the  finest  and  best  conducted 
body  of  men  we  saw  at  8t  Albans.  On  the  27th  of  May  we  were  arrested  and 
■ent  to  jail. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  only  a  few  words  to  say,  and  they  are  to  those  who 
might  be  drawn  into  a  similar  movement  hereafter  by  any- man  or  footion  of 
men.  Never  go  to  Canada  on  a  hostile  mission,  for,  juSt  as  sure  as  you  do,  you 
will  fail,  if  Unc^  '  3am  is  not  at.  your  back.  Never  join  an  organization  of  Irish 
NationaUsts  (so  called)  if  they  are  not  united  ;  yoa  are  only  helping  to  prolong 
the  quarrel  and  indefinitely  postpone  the  freedom  of  Ireland.  You  cannot  ex- 
pect that  a  set  of  men,  who  are  always  quarrelling  with  each  other  for  power 
and  favor,  when  the  enem.es  of  our  unfortunate  country  ore  blazing  away  at 
our  fathers  and  mothers  with  the  fatal  quiver  of  starvation,  will  be  men  enough 
to  forget  those  quarrels  when  the  enemy  is  vanquished.  No  ;  they  will  carry 
this  feeling  with  them  to  the  verge  of  the  grave,  and  perhaps  farther.  We  have 
no  quarrel  with  any'of  those  factions  ;  and  feeling  that  we  have  done  our  duty, 
we  now  withdraw  from  any  further  connection  with  any  faction  calling  itself  by 
any  name.  We  have  attended  a  few  congresses  of  the  Organization,  and  heard 
nothing  but  lying  and  scoundrelism,  the  most  solemn  pledges  broken,  and  all  the 
gasconade  when  outside  the  congress  hall  vanish  ifito  thin  air.  It  is  very  con- 
venient in  case  of  failure  to  have  one  man  upon  whose  shoulders  the  odium  of 
Buch  failures  may  forever  re'  ,  but  in  my  opinion  (and  I  know  from  experience 
what  I  am  talking  about)  the  cause  of  the  failures  is  justly  attributed  to  the 
gas-blowers  who  attended  those  congresses,  and  there  made  promises  which 
they  never  made  an  effort  to  redeem.  This  is  why  I  think  the  names  of  those 
men  should  be  known.  I  now  close  this  story  of  my  experience  with  Fenian- 
ism,  and  with  it  dose  my  connection  with  any  of  its  present  contending  fac- 
tions. 

Wishing  yoa  suocesa  in  anything  yoa  may  nndertake,  I  remain,  dear  General, 
▼ery  truly  yoar  ficiend, 

D.  MUBPHT,  Ez-ll^or  LT..JL 


.  \^\^  ^tiSiJii^<i 


r 


EXTRACTS  FROM  GEN.  DONNELLY'S  REPORT. 


»♦» 


On  my  arrival  in  Boston,  I  found  that  but  one  oirole  in  the  State  could  be 
flaid  to  be  actually  in  existence — the  O'Neill  circle  of  Cambridge.  The  time  was 
too  short  for  reorganization  of  circles,  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  prominent  men 
amongst  those  who  had  been  members  of  the  Organization,  it  was  decided  to 
ignore  the  circles  and  to  appoint  in  their  stead  transportation  committees  for 
the  various  localities,  the  chairmen  of  which  would  form  a  central  committee, 
which  would  meet  in  Boston  at  the  call  of  its  chairman.  This  plan  was  found 
to  work  admirably.  It  gave  evei-ybody  an  opportunity  to  work,  and  all  who 
could  be  reached  did  go  to  work  with  a  will.  I  visited  Providence,  and  set  the 
ball  in  motion  at  that  point  and  vicinity  in  a  similar  manner.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  at'this  time.  AU  former  dissensions  seemed 
to  be  forgotten,  and  all  Irish  Organizations  vied  with  each  other  in  the  work  of 
procuring  men  and  means.  The  result  was  that  on  the  18th  day  of  April  a  force 
of  one  thousand  men  coi: V5  have  been  marched  from  the  districts  above  named. 
The  enemy,  however,  had  in  the  meantime  possessed  himself  of  very  correct 
information  of>our  intentions,  and  prepared  for  our  reception  to  an  extent  that 
induced  a  change  in  the  time  of  making  the  attempt  to  cross  the  border. 
#♦»*#** 

On  my  return  to  Boston,  May  8th,  I  found  tha  enthusiasm  of  the  people  very 
much  cooled  off  by  my  delay  ia  New  York,  which  you  know  was  unavoidable  ; 
but  in  Providence,  Lawrence,  Lowell,  and  many  other  places,  the  committees 
were  working  very  energetically.  After  repeated  meetings,  the  people  of  Boston 
were  again  at  work  in  earnest ;  new  companies  were  formed,  and  enlistments 
were  proceeding  rapidly  ;  companies  from  the  I.  B.  B.  and  other  Organizations 
tendered  their  services  ;  the  officers  of  the  Savage  circles  called  upon  me  and 
tendered  their  support.  The  Pi^esident  of  the  convention  of  Irish  Societies 
called  a  meeting  of  that  body,  the  members  of  which  pledged  their  support. 
Many  civic  societies  called  meetings,  voted  a  portion  of  their  funds,  and  ap- 
pointed committees  to  aid  in  raising  transportation  for  men  to  the  front.  Alto- 
gether the  situation  was  very  encouraging,  and  I  left  Boston  for  Vermont  on  the 
17th  of  April  with  the  firmest  conviction  that  Massachusetts  and  Bhode  Island 
would  furnish  at  least  one  thousand  men  for  the  first  movement.  Before  leav- 
ing, I  issued  the  final  orders  to  move  the  troops  so  as  to  have  them  arrive  at  St. 
Albans  at  6  o'clock  a.  m>  on  the  24th  of  April,  and,  to  the  utmost  of  my  ability, 
impressed  upon  the  central  committee  the  necessity  of  prompt  action  and  no 
delays.  For  this  I  made  out  and  gave  them  the  time  of  the  trains  starting  from 
the  various  points,  so  as  to  unite  at  White  Kiver  Junction,  Vermont.  My  de- 
sire was  to  remain  and  bring  the  troops  forward  with  me  ;  but,  for  reasons  well 
known  to  you,  my  presence  in  Vermont  was  deemed  necessary  for  at  least  a 
week  before  the  move. 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


49 


♦  ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

The  hour  (5  o'clock  v.  h.,  May  23d)  had  uow  arrived  for  the  men  to  itart 
from  BoHtuu,  and  if  anything  was  wanting  to  convince  me  that  they  would  coma 
on  time,  it  was  furnished  in  a  dispatch  from  Boston  to  the  superintendent  of 
the  Vermont  Central  lUiilroad,  asking  him  to  itend  cars  enough  to  Whito  Biver 
Junction  to  transport  one  thousand  men.  I  \.  ..tched  the  depot  until  I  saw  the 
cars  sent,  and  then  returned  to  the  house  of  a  friend. 


I  consider  the  conduct  of  the  officers  at  the  rear  as  anything  but  soldierly. 
After  your  arrest,  their  first  duty  was  to  ascertain  who  the  ranking  officer  was, 
and  report  to  him  for  duty,  instead  of  lying  around  the  camp  or  holding  town 
meetings  in  the  fields ;  and  if,  as  I  am  informed,  thoy  believed  me  and  my 
handful  of  men  to  be  shut  up  with  the  prospect  of  capture,  their  failure  to  come 
forward  and  relieve  me  was  cowardly  in  the  extreme.  I  would  have  gone  far- 
ther to  relieve  any  one  of  them. 

After  all,  it  is  bettor  as  it  was.  The  whole  movement  failed  on  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, wit-i  the  failure  of  the  men  from  Boston  to  arri/e  on  the  6  o'clock  train,  as 
agreed  upon.  Aftor  that  time,  nothing  could  be  done  to  make  the  movement  a 
success.  We  might  have  made  a  pretty  good  fight,  if  we  could  have  got  SCO  or 
600  men  across  at  Pigeon  Hill.  If  the  New  York  men  had  been  up  in  time,  yoa 
no  doubt  would  have  captured  Eccles  Hill ;  but  we  would  have  been  flanked 
out  of  it  in  our  turn,  for  the  enemy  had  1500  men  there  by  3  o'clock  p.  h.,  and 
with  the  New  York  men  we  would  only  have  had  about  300  men  by  that  hour — 
a  force  totally  inadequate  to  hold  the  position,  as,  when  turned,  it  had  no  ad- 
vantages. If,  on  the  other  hand,  all  or  one  half  of  the  men  we  were  promised, 
had  arrived  on  time,  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  we  could  have  been  suc- 
cessful Not^^g  but  th<^  failure  of  the  men  to  arrive  at  the  proper  time  pre- 
vented the  carrying  out  of  your  plans  successfully.  The  enemy  was  totaUy  un- 
prepared to  receive  us  ou  Tuesday  morning.  Had  400  men  arrived  in  St.  Al- 
bans at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  could  have  taken  them  into  St.  Johns  by 
railroad  without  the  slightest  opposition.  There  was  not  a  soldier  in  St.  Johns 
until  about '':  o'clock  p.  u.  I  could  have  been  there  at  9  o'clock  a.  h.  Had- 1 
succeeded  ir  occupying  St^  Johns,  I  would  have  been  in  a  position  to  threaten 
Montreal,  supported  by  yon  with  what  force  could  be  spared  from  the  camp  <it 
Pigeon  Hill.  I  would  therefore  have  occupied  the  attention  of  all  the  forces  the 
enemy  .could  have  mustered  for  at  least  four  days,  which  would  have  given  yoo 
all  the  opportunity  you  desired  to  place  our  war  material  on  the  Canadian  bot» 
der,  in  the  hands  of  men  who  would  then  have  had  the  courage  to  use  it. 

Oen.  Starr's  command  would  have  met  with  no  opposition  until  he  reached 
the  vicinity  of  St  Johns,  as  the  enemy  could  not  turn  upon  him  without  expos-' 
ing  his  flank  and  rear  to  an  attack  of  our  combined  forces  at  St.  Johns  and 
Pigeon  Hill,  besides  uncovering  Montreal,  only  20  miles  from  St.  Johns. 

It  may  be  said  that  Montreal  had  but  little  to  fear  from  a  force  of  400  meii, 
even  if  I  had  occupied  St  Johns.  But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  had  one 
half  the  number  of  men  arrived  on  time,  which  wo  were  most  positively  assured 
would  come,  my  force  would  have  been  increased  to  1600  men  on  Wednesday 
night— exclusive  of  Lewis's  men  or  Sinnott's  expedition— a  force  aiuply  silffi- 


I 


Official  Beport  of 


cient  to  hold  in  ohock  any  foroo  the  enomy  could  muiter  aoath  of  the  St.  Lftw- 
fence  At  that  time.  Even  m  late  an  Friday  thoy  had  but  *JU()<)  men.  It  niuit 
also  be  rvinoiubered  that  all  oomuunications  would  hare  been  out  souib  of  the 
river,  which  would  have  prevented  the  mustering  of  the  militia  in  that  diatriot 
in  a  great  meaaure.  The  aimple  fact  of  the  capture  of  St  Johns  would  have 
mode  it  necewary  for  a  large  force  tu  remain  in  Montreal  and  Quebec  to  take 
care  of  the  Fenians  at  these  points,  who  wonld  certainly  have  shown  their  band 
had  we  boon  at  all  successful  in  our  first  efforts.  The  occupation  of  the  points 
designated  in  your  plan  was,  on  Tuesday  morning,  a  very  easy  feat  to  accom- 
plish. But  on  Wednesday,  at  noon,  it  was  impossible,  even  with  a  considera- 
ble force,  as  the  enemy  was  then  occupying  those  points,  and  could  have  held 
them  against  such  troops  as  we  could  have  brought  against  them.  Neither 
(heirs  nor  ours  were  the  kind  of  troops  to  attack  a  position  with,  as  neithar 
were  sufilciently  drilled  or  organized,  and  the  force  occupying  the  position  in 
■och  a  contest  was  the  one  likely  to  be  viotorioos.  Henoa  the  necessity  of  moT- 
ing  beforo  the  euemy  was  prepared.  That  we  calculated  ooireotly  in  this  ra- 
•peot  is  well  known  and  >  ii.'-'/led,  as  it  is  known  to  every  one  who  was  near  the 
line  at  that  time,  that  the  ▼ohiuteen  did  not  receive  orders  to  march  until 
ToMday  morning,  notwithstanding  the  bat  that  the  government  was  notified  at 
4  o'clock  Monday  afternoon,  that  the  Fenians  were  on  the  move.  Alter  the  offl- 
flers  received  their  orders,  they  were  obliged  to  colleot  their  men,  in  many  cases 
•Battered  over  a  whole  township,  attending  to  their  farms  or  their  workshops ;  a 
vork  that  required  days  rallier  than  hours  to  acoomplisb.  Never  was  a  more 
complete  surprixo  effected,  and  nothing  but  the  tardiness  of  the  men  in  coming 
forward  at  the  time  agreed  upon  prevented  the  oooupation  of  the  whole  ooun- 
tzy  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  within  three  days,  and  without  the  loss  of  as 
many  men  as  were  sacrificed  in  our  failure  to  obtain  even  a  foothold. 

Bat  why  were  our  men  so  much  behind  time  7  We  believed,  not  withoat  the 
most  positive  assurance,  tiiat.Vermont  would  ftinuah  at  least  700  men  at  Franlc- 
lin  by  daylight  Tuesday  morning ;  that  Maaaachoaetts  and  Bhode  Island  would 
•end  1000  men  to  8t.  Albans  by  six  o'clock  a.  k.  ;  that  800  piokod  men  wonld 
be  at  Island  Pond  about  the  same  time ;  that  New  York  and  Brooklyn  would 
Iftimish  600  men  on  Tuesday  evening  at  6  o'clock  ;  that  from  western  New  York, 
Albany,  Troy,  Newark,  Bridgeport  and  New  Haven,  1600  men  would  arrive  at 
Ualone  during  Tuesday  and  the  forenoon  of  Wednesday  ;  and  from  each  of  these 
points  we  expected  at  least  an  equal  nnmber  of  men  wonld  arrive  within  tarty- 
eight  hours  after  the  first  detachments.  The  failure  of  Vermont  I  can  aooonnt 
Av,  because  I  was  there  and  conld  see  for  myseUl  The  officer  in  charge  of 
military  a£Eun  had  no  men.  He  bad  done  nothing  to  organise  troops.  This  is 
Hm  man  who  pledged  700  man  last  ApriL 

Why  New  York  and  Brooklyn  sent  170  instead  of  600 1  have  not  yet  learned ; 
Mithor  can  I  inform  yon  of  the  reason  why  western  New  York  did  not  famish 
the  1000  men  ssdd  tohe  i«ady  to  march  acroBS  the  line  last  ApriL  Bridgeport 
fondsbed  more  men  than  was  «^>eoted,  and  they  arrived  before  they  were  ex- 
paotad.  Major  Murphy  and  Oapt  Fitspatrick  did  their  da(y  certainly.  Ci^ 
X«BaUy  of  Mariboso  also  brought  the  number  of  men  he  promised.  The  other 
plaMS  nentioiMd  were  not  depended  upon,  except  Massachusetts  and  Bhode 
Uand.    Tbsse  8tate%  together  with  Vermont,  were  depended  upon  above  all 

t 


The  Attimpted  Ihvawon  of  Canada. 


ffl 


othen,  M  from  tbeas  Htatea  we  «ip«ote4  m«n  flrat ;  yet  of  kU  othen,  Uwm 
Btatoa  failed  moat  completely,  and  of  all  the  follana  thia  to  m»  ia  the  moat 
inoomprehenaiMo.  I  bav«  written  to  get  aome  liglU  upon  the  aubjoct,  but  have 
not  yet  been  informed.  I  have  inquired  of  the  few  who  did  oome,  but  I  am 
not  willing  to  believe  aome  of  the  atotementa  my  inqairiea  elicited.  I  cannot 
believe  that  the  men  who  abook  my  hand  on  my  daportare  flrom  Boaton,  wiah- 
ing  me  Ood  apeed,  and  pledging  me  to  do  oU  in  Utair  power  to  get  the  men 
ready  and  forward  them  promptly  on  time,  would  deliberately  go  to  their  homea 
and  ahrewdly  wait  nntil  the  fight  hod  actually  oommonoeil  before  they  would 
•end  the  men  npon  whom  we  ware  depending  to  begin  the  fight  I  cannot  be- 
lieve that,  in  the  fiioe  of  my  moat  p«aitive  aaauronoe  that  men  would  oroaa  the 
linaa  on  Monday  night,  depending  upon  their  aopport  on  Tueaday  morning, 
they  would  cold  bloodedly  determine  to  wait  to  le»m  tba  fate  of  theae  before 
they  aent  a  man  to  aoaiat  them.  And  yet,  GoL  MoOinniati,  the  officer  aeleoted 
by  theae  men  to  command  the  troopa  from  Moaaoohuaetta,  inatead  of  moving 
hia  command  on  Monday  at  6  o'clock  p.  x.,  aa  he  waa  ordered,  waited  until 
Tueaday  night,  and  then  came  to  Bt  Albona  alone,  and  there  atoted,  in  the  pres- 
entee of  at  leaat  fifty  peraona,  that  he  woa  aent  to  aaoartain  whether  a  fight  waa 
really  going  on.  If  he  waa  aatiafled,  he  aaid,  that  we  were  fighting,  he  would 
telegraph  to  Maaaaohuoetta,  where  3000  men  wore  all  ready  to  atort  for  the  front 
Now,  why  waa  not  a  part  of  theae  meA  aent  when  it  waa  promiaed  they  would 
come?  Perhaps  prudential  considerations  had.Bomiefehing  to  do  with  the  delay. 
If  thia  waa  the  cbse,  the  men  of  Boaton  may  in  the  future  have  the  conaoUng 
reflection  that  their  prudence  more  than  any  and  all  thinga  elae  contributed  to 
the  failure. 

But,  whatever  waa  the  cause,  the  men  did  •  not  oome,  and  we  have  therefore 
•dded  another  to  the  many  failurea  which  Iriahmen  have  made  in  their  atmggle 
with  the  foe  of  their  race.  You  and  many  other  good  men  are  in  prioou ;  I 
•oon  expect  to  keep  you  company,  and  ao  enda  the  invaaion  (?)  of  Canatl^u  But 
it  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  hear  the  last  of  it  Qf  conrae  yon  are  to  bl»me 
for  it  all.  Well,  that  is  but  fair.  You  would  have  received  .tfw  largest  shftre  of 
the  praise  if  we  had  aucoeeded. 

I  notice  the  generalship  of  Pigeon  Hill  and  Trout  Biver  is  severely  criticised. 
Well,  I  for  one  am  perfectly  willing  that  those  who  criticise  should  take  the 
aame  number  of  men  under  similar  circumstances  and  try  their  hand  atgeneral- 
ahip.  But  you  ought  to  have  had  more  men  there,  they  will  say.  I  know  we  ought ;. 
but  how  could  we,  when  those  who  pledged  themselves  to  do  ao,  failed  to  aend 
them  7  Some  will  aay — indeed  many  have  already  said,  "  Why  did  you  attempt 
to  cross  with  so  few  men?"  These  same  men  v/ould  have  been  the  first  to  cry 
out  "cowards,"  if  we  had  refused  to  cross  with  half  that  number. 

I  notice  the  press  and  people  are  severe  on  yon,  and  claim  you  made  arrange.! 
ments  for  your  arrest  I  would  pay  no  attention  to  this.  Time  will  show  the 
injustice  of  the  foul  slanders  ttiat  are  finding  circnlKtion  among  the  people^ 
Unfortunately  for  you,  the  first  intelligence  was  carried  to  the  rear  by  tho8» 
who  were  never  at  the  front,  or  were  the  first  to  run  away.  Among  the  few 
brave  fellows  who  remained  with  me  to  the  last,  not  one  ia  found  to  blame  yon„ 
and  none  had  more  reason  to  complain  of  your  arrest  than  they,  as  ita  imme* 
diato  effect  waa  to  shut  us  up  in  a  position  which  was  anything  but  agreeable^ 


v.':.^mm^ 


62 


Ofhoial  Befobt  of 


These  men  wen  not  the  sort  who  would  lightly  overlook  an  act  of  cowardice  in 
their  officers. 

Yon  are  to  blame,  however,  and  so  am  I  and  many  others,  'for  believing  so 
implicitly  in  the  promises  of  the 'people  to  soppdrt  a  movement  against  the  en- 
emy, when  they  were  convinced  that  we  were  about  to  commence  it  We 
ought  to  have  known  that  those  who  make  an  excuse  to  shirk  their  part  of  the 
necessary  preparation,  would  find  some  excuse  to  avoid  their  share  of  the 
work  when  it  was  actually  begun.  There  is  any  amount  of  honest  (7)  indigna- 
tion manifested  at  "  the  disgrace  it  has  brought  upon  us,"  by  those  who  failed 
in  toto  to  perform  one  act  or  lift  a  finger  to  make  it  a  success.  But  these  people 
will  prate  about  what  wonders  they  were  aecomplishing  in  the  way  of  raising 
men  and  means,  when  they  heard  of  the  arrest  of  O'NeilL  But  in  this  case,  as 
in  every  other,  they  began  too  late.  If  they  had  begun  their  efforts  to  assist  us 
sooner,  yon  would  not  have  been  arrested.  Yon  must  not  understand  from 
this  that  I  do  not  believe  the  Irish  people  would  support  a  fight,  and  fight  as 
desperately  for  the  success  of  their  own  cause  as  they  did  for  the  stranger,  if 
they  could  be  convinced  that  fighting  was  intended  ;  but  it  needs  too  much  to 
convince  them, — ^nothing  less  than  the  actual  commencement  of  hostilities. 
Any  one  who  can  afford  to  commence  hostilities  against  Great  Britain  in  the 
nsii.e  of  the  Irish  people  at  his  own  expense,  has  a  splendid  opening  for  busi- 
ness in  that  line,  and  will  undoubtedly  have  the  support  of  tiie  Irish  people 
after  he  has  got  fairly  under  way. 

I  cannot  close  this  without  expi-essing  my  gratitude  to  the  people  of  St.  Al- 
bans and  Burlington  for  their  kind  treatme  t  of  me  whilst  amongst  them. 

Gen.  Foster,  U.  S.  Marshal,  and  his  deputy,  J.  M.  SmaUey,  Esq.,  were  untir- 
ing in  their  efforts  to  make  my  situation  as  comfortable  as  circumstances 
would  admit,  nor  were  their  efforts  confined  to  me  alone.  Both  oi  these 
gentlemen  used  their  own  funds  fireely  in  feeding  the  men  at  St.  Albans, 
and  forwarding  them  to  'heir  homes.  Mr.  Brainard,  who  became  my  bail,  has 
placed  me  under  lasting  obligations,  my  counsel,  Guy  0.  Noble,  Esq.,  noble  by 
nature  as  well  as  by  name,  has  my  everlasting  gratitude. 
Very  respectfully, 

Yourobt.  servant, 

J.  J.  DONNELLY. 


r  cowardice  in 


SUPPLEMENT  TO  GENERAL  REPORT. 


•ONNELLT. 


New  Yobk,  November  Isi,  1870. 

(General  Donnelly,  whose  sincerity,  patriotism  and  courage  cannot  be  doubt- 
ed, gave  up  a  lucrative  business  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  to  g^  to  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  force  in  those  two  States  to  assist 
in  commencing  a  movement.  He  repeatedly  assured  me  that  I  could  depend 
on  from  ten  to  twelve  hundred  men  the  first  day,  and  on  an  equal  number  the 
second  day.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  this  promise  would  have  been  made 
good,  if  the  movement  had  .taken  place  before  the  19th  of  April,  as  at  first 
intended,  and  the  General  had  been  in  Boston  to  personally  superintend  the 
forwarding  of  troops.  Delay  seems  to  have  had  a  disastrous  effect.  It  is  not 
easy,  however,  to  understand  why  the  parties  who  were  left  in  charge,  and  who, 
it  appears,  solemnly  pledged  themselves  to  forward  the  men,  so  utterly  failed  to 
keep  their  word.  I  have  been  informed  that  some  of  the  wealthiest  and  most 
respectable  of  our  countryn  en  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  were  mem> 
bers  of  the  vaiious  committers,  i  now  ask  Gen.  Donnelly  to  furnish  me  with 
a  list  of  their  names,  to  be  published  with  his  report,  so  that  the  public  may 
know  the  parties  who  could  so  trifle  with  the  sacred  cause  of  Ireland  and  the 
lives  of  their  fellow  countrymen.  On  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  more 
than  on  any  other  States,  did  I  rely  for  men  to  commence  the  movement,  and 
in  none  others  was  I  so  grievously  disappointed.  The  failure  of  the  men  to  ar- 
rive in  time  gave  the  enemy  ample  opportunity  to  put  himself  in  readiness.  Af- 
ter my  arrest  there  was  very  little  chtmce  of  effecting  anything  at  any  point.  A 
great  deal  has  been  said  about  a  lack  of  competent  officers.  Had  the  men  been 
prompt  in  coming  up,  there  would  have  been  no  lack  of  able  officers,  for  they 
would  have  been  ordered  up  :  as  it  was,  there  was  no  occasion  for  a  display  of 
generalship. 

I  shall  soon  publish  the  Report  of  Gen.  Donnelly,  which  reached  me  too  late 
to  be  inserted  here  in  full :  also,  the  reports  of  the  other  officers  who  were  pres- 
ent at  Franklin,  uivd  of  those  at  Malone  and  Island  Pond ;  and  of  such  as 
were  to  operate  agax..st  the  Red  River  expedition. 

The  road  which  Major  Murphy  took  from  St  Albans  to  Franklin  was  much 
shorter  than  that  ovir  which  Col.  Leddy  and  his  men  had  to  travel,  the  latter 
having  been  ordered  to  take  said  road  fov  the  purpose  of  arming  his  men  at  a 
house  on  the  way,  where  some  of  our  arms,  etc.,  were  stored.  It  was  feared 
that  the  teams  engaged  to  haul  them  to  the  front  would  not  be  able  to  get  then 
all  up  before  the  United  States  soldiers,  who  were  said  to  be  on  the  way,  would 
intercept  them.  The  extra  distance  which  Major  Murphy  and  his  men  had  to 
travel,  through  mistake  of  the  guide,  more  than  mad"  up  for  this  difference.  I 
have  not  yet  had  a  report  from  C!ol.  Leddy,  consequontly  I  cannot  say  what  ex- 
cuse he  has  to  offer  for  the  delay  in  getting  to  camp,  but  all  other  reports  which 
I  have  received  go  to  show  that  his  men  made  no  great  effort  to  get  up  in  time. 


iilfii^fii'flMteii'flTi^^^*'^^'-'-''^^*^'^- 


1  f^k^}&^li^  ^ns^dtM 


II   m  i! 


I 


If 


i'f 


54 


OFnoiAL  Report  of 


I  know  that  the  road  was  bad  aad  the  men  nnaccustomed  to  marching,  and 
no  doubt  hungry.  Yet,  of  all  the  men  whom  I  expected  on  the  border,  I  d»>, 
pended  more  upon  those  from  New  York  to  overcome  such  difflcnltieH  par- 
ticularly  when  they  were  told  that  I  had  crossed  the  line,  and  expected  them  to 
hurry  to  my  assistance.     There  were  plenty  of  provisions  for  them  in  camp. 

BSNDINa  THB  MEN  HOMB.  \ 

In  behalf  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  and  the  cause  of  Irish  liberty,  I  beg  to 
return  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  Hon.  Wm.  M.  Tweed,  of  New  York,  who  has 
forever  endeared  himself  to  the  gratitude  of  the  Irish  people,  by  his  great  kind- 
ness and  liberality  in  furnishing  transportation  to  their  homes  for  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  men  who  went  to  the  border. 

IN  PBIBON. 

Soon  after  my  arrest,  several  gentlemen  in  and  around  Burlington,  Yt.,  came 
to  me  and  offered  to  go  on  my  bonds.  The  commissioner  who  first  fixed  the 
bail,  having  placed  it  at  twenty  thousand  dollars;  considerable  time  was  lost  in 
having  it  reduced  to  fifteen  thousand.  In  the  meantime,  one  of  our  officers, 
GoL  Hugh  McQinnis,  who  had  been  bailed  out  at  St  Albans,  having  promised 
to  furnish  indemnity  bonds  on  his  return  home,  failed  to  report  (It  would  ap- 
pear that  he  went  to  Chicago,  irhere  he  was  taken  sick,  and  subsequently  died. ) 
This,  together  with  some  underhand  work,  discouraged  the  parties  who  had 
offered  to  go  on  my  bonds,  caused  them  to  hesitute  and  delay,  and  finally  back 
out  altognther.  The  delay  thus  caused  prevented  me  from  writing  to  parties 
who  would  have  bailed  me  out  at  first  The  following  n&med  gentlemen,  when 
they  heard  how  the  matter  stood,  kindly  volunteered  to  furnish  the  bail :  Bev. 
H.  Quigley,  D.*D.,  pastor  of  Erin,  Wisoonsiu ;  Daniel  F.  Keefe,  Glens  Falls, 
N.  Y.  ;  George  Francis  Train,  James  Lackey,  Washington,  D.  0.  ;  D.  F.  Mo- 
Garthy,  Faribault,  Minn.  ;  Col.  Wm.  F.  Atkinson  and  Brother,  Port  Huron, 
Mich.  But  OS  these  parties  were  not  residents  of  Burlington,  or  personally 
known  to  the  judge  who  had  charge  of  the  case,  they  could  only  give  a  bond  of 
indemnity  to  some  party  or  parties  who  were  residents.  This  again  caiised 
considerable  delay,  and  befor''  the  matter  could  be  finally  arranged,  the  time 
for  my  trial  was  at  hand.  I  remained  in  Burlington  jail  two  months,  during 
which  time  I  received  much  kindness  at  the  hands  of  the  efficient  and  gentle- 
manly sheriff,  L.  M.  Drew,  and  his  amiable  lady  ;  also,  from  the  citizens  of  Bur- 
lington generally :  Mr.  John  Dullahan,  J.  B.  Scully,  P.  Hi  Kennedy,  Major  J. 
J.  Monaghan,  Capts.  Carlton,  Cronin,  Murphy  and  a  host  of  others  were  untir- 
ing in  their  exertions  to  render  my  prison  life  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and 
cause  me  to  forget  the  almost  entire  neglect  of  my  Fenian  friends  outside  of 
Burlington.  At  the  time  I  felt  very  much  hurt  over  this  neglect,  but  when  I 
take  into  consideration  the  efforts  that  had  been  put  forth  to  vilify  and  misre- 
present me,  I  can  readily  find  an  excuse  for  it  A  man  who  had  been  repre- 
sented to  our  people  us  a  "coward  "  and  a  "traitor  to  Ireland,"  could  hardly 
expect  any  better  treatment.  Against  these  charges  I  have  no  defence  to  make. 
If  there  is  a  single  Irishman  in  the  Fenian  Brotherhood  or  out  of  it,  who  really 


■KHlBMi 


The  Attempted  Invasion  or  Oanada. 


» 


beUeres  me  to  beeithera  "  coward  "or  a  "traitor  to  IrelAad,"  I  can  ufToxd'ta 
pity  him. 

After  my  trial,  I  remained  two  months  and  a  half  in  Windsor  prison,  Yer* 
mont,  where  the  bind  hearted  and  gentlemanly  superintendent,  J.  A.  Pollard, 
and  his  estimable  fi&mily,  together  with  the  chaplain  of  the  prison,  Franklin 
Botler,  the  warden,  S.  T.  Lull,  and  the  gentlemen  composing  the  prison  guard, 
did  all  that  they  could  to  make  myself  and  Col.  J.  H.  Brown,  who  was  in 
prison  with  me,  happy  and  contented.  Here  again  the  citizens  w«re  Tery  kind 
tons. 

I  desire  to  return  my  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  kind  and  genwoos  Mends,  Pat- 
rick Carty,  Essex  Jimotion ;  Jerry  H.  Flinn,  Milton ;  John  Dullahan,  J.  B. 
Scully,  P.  H.  Kennedy,  detains  Cronin,  Murphy  and  others  of  Burlington, 
Vermont ;  who,  on  learning  of  the  destitute  curcumstances  of  my  family,  sent 
for  them,  and  made  provision  for  their  support  during  my  imprisonment ;  and 
also  to  the  fbUowing  gentlemen  for  their  kind  donations  towards  the  sam* 
object : 

Hon.  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  late  Attorney  <^ner9\  United  States, ViTind- 

sor,Vt fSOOO 

Hon.  E.  H.  Stoughton,  Windsor,  Vt. 50  00 

Major-General  B.  F.  Butler,  Lowell,  Mass. 20  00 

John  Dullahan,  from  self  and  others,  Burlington,  Vt. 24  00 

Dr.  E.  Donnelly,  iVom  himself  and  others,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 20  00 

Thomas  Eeefe,  John  O'Neil,  and  others,  employees  of  the  Ver- 
mont Central  Bailroad 63  SO 

Allen,  Larkiu  &  O'Brien  circle,  F.  B.,  Fort  Laramie,  Wyoming 

Territory,  per  Sergeants  John  Glynn  and  P.  O'Eeefe 26  00 

James  Lackey,  Washington,  D.  G 6  00 

Thomas  J.  Barton,  Waltham,  Mass 10  00 

P.  Donohue,  Boston,  Mass 26  00 

Unknown  friend,  through  Marshal  Foster 25  00 

Mr.  Phelps,  attorney,  at  Burlington,  Vt.,  will  please  accept  my  thanks  for  his 
kindness  and  services,  rendered  legally  and  otherwise  ;  also,  the  Messrs. 
Smalley. 

UT  BXIiEASI!. 

Although  sentenced  to  two  years'  imprisonment,  I  did  not  expect  to  remain 
in  confinement  that  length  of  time.  Neither  did  I  at  first  lool;  for  so  early  a 
release,  until  I  hear(^  cf  the  numerous  petitions  gotten  up  in  almodt  every  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  signed  by  all  classes  of  citizens.  The  firs .  of  which  I  had 
any  knowledge  was  started  in  Si  Louis,  and  presented  to  the  Preslucnt  in  per- 
son, on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  that  city,  by  Mayor  Cole,  Judge  Daily,  Hon. 
Erastus  Wells  and  others.  Afterwards,  when  such  men  .^.s  Generab  B.  F.  But- 
ler and  N.  P.  Banks  of  Massachusetts,  Gen.  Schenck  of  Ohio,  Hon.  James  M. 
Cavanagh  of  Montana,  Hon.  Horace  Greeley  and  Hon.  Thomas  Murphy  of  New 
York,  and  >^undreds  of  the  first  men  of  the  country,  as  well  as  numerous  Or- 
ganizations, intere^d  themselves  in  the  matter,  I  knew  that,  as  these  parties 
represented  the  wish  of  the  American  people,  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  nation 


fMm 


^^TM^^a 


f 


ill.' 
11: 


'!hiH 


56 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


wonld  feel  justified  in  granting  our  release,  and  on  receipt  of  the  following  let* 
ter  was  satisfied  that  we  had  not  much  longer  to  remain  in  prison  •■ 

NSW  YOBK,  OOTOBXB  4,  1870. 

OxK.  John  OTTxiUi : 

DxAB  Sib  :  Although  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with 
you,  I  sympathized  with  you  in  your  misfortune  and  imprisonment.  I  thought 
that  ''  3  time  had  come  for  your  liberation,  and  that  I  would  do  something 
towar.  ii  A  week  ago  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Greeley  about  you  and  fellow  prisoners. 
He  told  me  he  would  use  all  his  influence  for  you  ;  but  as  he  was  going  to  the 
West  the  next  day,  he  had  not  time  until  his  return.  But  Mr.  Greeley  told  me 
to  go  to  Thomas  Murphy,  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York,  and  say  to  him 
that  Mr.  Greeley  wanted  him  to  act  in  your  behalf  immediately.  I  did  so.  Mr. 
Murphy  took  hold  of  the  matter  earnestly  ;  saw  President  Grant  a^"nt  the  mat< 
ter  last  Friday,  who  said,  that  immediate V  on  his  return  to  Wa;^~lugton,  he 
would  issue  a  proclamation  for  your  release.  You  may  expect  it  every  moment ; 
but  keep  this  private  until  you  receive  it  Many  others  interested  themselves 
in  the  matter ;  Gen.  Wjtodford,  Gen.  Porter,  and  your  Mends  of  the  "  Irish 
Bepublican  Central  Club  ot  New  York."  After  your  liberation,  t  would  like  to 
meet  you  some  afternoon,  at  3  o'clock,  at  Sweeny's  Hotel,  New  York. 
Your  Mend, 

Thobias  McGbaot!,  247  E.  30th  St.,  New  York. 

When  the  President  got  to  Washington,  the  indictments  on  which  we. were 
tried  were  written  for,  and,  as  soon  as  they  arrived,  and  the  necessary  papers 
could  be  made  out,  our  pardons  were  granted.  I  now  beg  to  return  my  sincere 
thanks,  on  behalf  of  myself  and  feUow  prisoners,  to  the  numerous  parties  who 
interested  themselves  in  procuring  our  release. 

JOHN  O'NEILL. 


(OBXB  4,  1870. 


SPEECH  OF  GENEEAL  JOHN  O'NEILL, 

At  his  Trial  at  Windsor,  July  30, 1870. 


Mat  it  please  yoar  Honors,  I  feel  that  I  ocoapy  a  very  awkward  position  as  a 
man  who  loves  and  reveres  the  laws  of  the  land — as  a  man  who  has  fought  and 
bled  to  preserve  those  laws — I  cannot  but  feel  the  awkwardness  of  my  position  in 
standing  before  this  Court  charged  with  the  crime  of  violatiiig  those  laws.  As 
a  soldier  of  the  American  Republic,  I  served,  as  the  record  will  show,  honestly 
and  fcdthfully.  Before  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  unfortunate  war,  I  was  a 
soldier  in  the  regular  army.  I  enlisted  in  1857,  and  successively  served  as  a 
private,  as  a  corporal,  as  a  sergeant,  as  a  sergeant-major,  brevet  second  liente- 
tenant,  first  lieutenant,  and  captain ;  and  resigned  after  having  been  recom- 
mended for  the  position  of  Colonel  on  account  of  services  rendered  by  me  in 
the  cause  of  my  country,  and  in  defence  of  her  laws.  I  ^ii  not  feel  justified 
in  remaining  in  the- army,  because  I  had  been  disqualified  for  active  sendee  in 
the  field,  having  been  severely  wounded  during  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1863. 

With  your  kind  permission  I  will  read  one  or  two  short  letters  received  from 
gentlemen  distinguished  in  the  army.  I  have  a  number  of-  such  letters,  but 
have  only  two  or  three  with  me.  The  first  is  from  Mnjor-General  Stoneman, 
dated  Headquarters  23d  Army  Corps,  March  8th,  1864: 

I  knew  Lieut.  O'Neill  well  on  the  Peninsula,  and  as  a  brave  and  worthy  offi- 
cer, in  whose  judgment  and  capacity  I  had  the  greatest  confidence.  I  hope  be 
will  receive  the  promotion  to  which  his  merits  entitle  him,  that  of  a  field  officer 
in  a  colored  regiment. 

Oeobok  Stomeuan,  Maj.  Qen.  Commanding  Corps. 

I  beg  leave  to  remark  that  after  being  wounded  I  was  placed  on  a  military  ex- 
amining board  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  While  there  I  felt  that  I  would  like  to 
have  command  of  a  colored  cavalry  regiment  and  made  application  for  such  a 
command,  hence  the  letter  of  Gen.  Stoneman. 

The  next  is  from  Gen.  Judah,  dated  Headquarters  2d  Division,  23d  Army 
Corps,  in  camp  near  Mossy  Creek,  Tenn.,  March  7th,  1861: 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  state  that,  from  personal  observation,  I  deem  Lieut. 
John  O'Neill,  of  the  5th  Indiana  Cavalry,  one  of  the  most  gallant  and  efficient 
officers  it  has  been  my  duty  to  command.  His  daring  and  servicen  have  been 
conspicuous,  and  I  trust  he  may  receive  what  he  has  so  ably  merited— his  pro- 
motion. , 

H.  M.  Judah,  Bpg.  Gen.  Com.  Div.    J 

The  following  indorsement  appears  on  a  resignation  which  I  tendered  whilst 
first  Lieutenant  of  the  Indiana  Cavalry.    This  resignation  I  tendered  because  I 


jj 


«iiV*i''**      -. 


i:iW^>^^^m-i-'i.'' 


SB 


Ofhcial  Bepobt  01 


felt  that  I  had  been  anjustly  dealt  Tdth  by  the  colonel  of  my  regiment.  The 
commanding  general  seems  to  have  held  the  same  opinion,  as  will  appear  from 
the  following  endorsement  on  my  resignation  : 

HsAsquABTEBS,  Catalbt  Cobm,  Paub,  St.,  April  7, 1864. 

Disapproved  and  respeotftdly  forwarded.  This  is  an  excellent  ofBcer,  too  val- 
nable  indeed  to  be  lost  to  the  service.  He  was  severely  wounded  at  Taswell, 
Tennessee,  under  GoL  Graham,  last  December,  and  is  estimated  as  one  of  the 
best  officers  of  my  command.  This  is  not  the  only  resignation  which  has  been 
offered  on  account  of  promotions  of  inferiors  having  been  made  in  the  6th  In- 
diana Cavalry  over  the  heads  of  superiors,  based  upon  political  or  other  consid- 
erations, and  altogether  regardless  of  merit.  By  this  system,  junior  and  merit- 
orious officers  find  themselves  cut  off  from  all  hope  of  advancement,  and  com- 
pelled to  serve  subordinate  to  others  for  whose  qualifications  they  can  entertain 
no  respect.  While  therefore  I  disapprove  his  resignation  fbr  the  public  good,  I 
would  respectfiilly  urge  that  soiAe  policy  be  initiated  or  recommended  by  which 
officers  can  see  the  way  open  for  their  advancement  according  to  merit. 

S.  D.  Stxtboxs,  Brig.  Gen.  Gom'g.  Corps. 

These,  with  other  communications,  of  a  similar  character,  prove  conclusively 
that  although  I  have,  as  acknowledged  yesterday,  violated  the  laws  of  the  land, 
I  still  love  those  laws.  I  revere  them,  and  when  the  opportunity  camo,  and  the 
occasion  required,  I  showed  my  wlllingneES  to  fight,  and,  if  necessary,  to  die 
for  them. 

As  one  of  a  persecuted  race — as  one  who  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  tyranny 
and  oppression  in  my  native  land,  I  came  to  this  country  full  of  hopeful  confi- 
dence that  I  should  enjoy  that  liberty  which  was  denied  me  at  home.  I  came  to 
America  like  thousands  of  my  countrymen,  because  I  had  been  oppressed  in 
my  native  land.  I  came  to  this  country  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  dutiful 
citizen  of  the  land  of  my  adoption,  and  except  in  this  instance,  and  perhaps 
another  of  a  similar  character,  I  think  my  past  history  and  record  will  show 
that  I  have  made  a  good  citizen,  and  that  1  have  been  willing  when  called  upon 
to  offer  up  my  life  for  the  land  of  my  adoption^  But  while  I  have  felt  the  duties 
of  an  American  citizen,  and  while  I  felt  that  I^was  in  duty  bound  to  respect  the 
laws  of  the  land  of  my  adoption,  I  could  not,  I  cannot,  and  I  never  shall  forget  the 
land  of  my  birth.  I  could.not,  while  fighting  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States, 
when  facef  to  face  with  those  who  would  haul  down  and  trample  beneath  their  feet 
the  flag  of  freedom,  and  baring  my  bosom  to  their  bullets — I  could  not  forget  that 
I  was  bom  in  another  land — a  land  oppressed  and  tyrannized  over.  I  cannot 
now  forget  it ;  I  never  shall  forget  it.  No  matter  what  may  be  my  fate  here — 
I  am  still  an  Irishman,  and  while  I  have  tried  to  be  a  faithful  citizen  of  America, 
I  am  still  an  Irishman,  with  all  t)ie  instincts  of  an  Irishman.  And  let  me  re- 
mind your  Honors,  that  it  is  my  solemn  conviction  that  if  I  were  capable  of  for- 
getting the  land  of  my  birth,  I  would  show  myself  to  be  unworthy  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  an  Ajnerican  citizen.  I  may  have  been  imprudent  in  my  en- 
deavors to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  my  native  land.  There  is  a  diversity  of 
opinion  on  that  subject,  as  there  always  must  be  upon  such  subjects.  Had 
George  Washington  failed  in  his  endeavors  he  would  have  been  a  rebel,  and  treat- 


The  Attempted  Invasion  of  Canada. 


69 


ed  aa  a  rebel  by  (his  tyrannioal  goTemment  that  I  would  like  to  strike  a  blow 
against.  I  woold  like  to  remind  your  Honors  that  my  native  land  has  always 
been  true  to  America.  During  ihe  war  of  the  Bevolution,  in  America's  sorest 
hour  of  trial,  when  most  she  needed  a  friend,  when  King  George  the  Third  sent 
to  the  Irish  Parliament — ^for  then,  yolir  Honors,  Ireland  had  a  Parliament 
of  her  own — and  demanded  men  and  money  to  put  down  the  insurrection  in 
America,  that  Irish  Parliament,  I  am  proud  to  say,  roted  that  not  a  single  man 
nor  a  single  dollar  should  be  given  by  Ireland  to  fight  against  Washington  and 
his  compatriots.  Later  stiU,  after  Ireland  had  been  robbed  of  her  Parliament, 
and  during  the  late  war,  when  Muson  and  Slidell  were  captured  by  an  American 
seaman,  England  feeling  that  America  was  weak,  and  that  the  opportunity  had 
come  to  strike  her  a  deadly  blow,  threatened  war  against  this  country  at  a 
time  when  the  North  was  poorly  prepared  to  meet  her,  then  it  was  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Dublin,  by  the  only  means  at  their  command,  made  known  to  England 
and  to  the  world,  that  if  she  declared  war  against  the  land  that  had  offered  a 
homo  and  an  asylum  to  so  many  thousands  of  Irishmen,  that  the  Irish  people 
would  be  found  battling  upon  the  side  of  the  struggling  North.  I  contend, 
your  Honors,  that  my  native  land  has  been  always  true  to  America.  I  contend 
that  the  men  who  stand  before  you  to-day,  charged  with  being  violators  of  the 
law,  every  one  of  them  was  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  American  army  when  it 
was  necessary  to  defend  the  flag  against  those  who  would  tear  it  down. 
On  this  account,  while  I  cannot  deny,  and  do  not  wish  to  deny  that  I  have  vio- 
lated the  law,  I  would  ask  you  to  be  as  lenient  as  possible,  if  not  towards  my- 
self, at  least  towards  those  who  have  been  brought  into  this  trouble  through 
my  agency  and  instrumentality,  and  I  here  assume  a  reponsibility  wY'  k  does  not 
properly  belong  to  me.  I  was  not  the  originator  of  the  scheme  of  i.eeing  Ire- 
land by  an  invasion  of  Canada,  though  I  have  been  one  of  its  warmest  support- 
ers, and  have  advocated  it  from  almost  every  platform  from  Maine  to  Minne- 
sota. I  am  sorry  to  have  to  confess  that  the  men  who  originated  it,  and  who 
urged  myself  and  others  to  take  part  in  the  endeavor,  iasely  and  deliberately  de- 
serted us  at  the  critical  moment,  and^left  us  to  our  t&ia.  For  this  I  would  like 
to  see  those  men  punished.  I  believe  they  deserve  it,  and  if  it  were  in  my 
power,  they  should^be  punished.  [I  shall  caution  my  countrymen  against  them, 
and  not  only  against  them,  but  against  any  further  efforts  in  this  dirootion  ; 
and  here  I  wish  it  to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  my  love  for  Ireland  reiaoins 
the  same,  and  my  hatred  of  that  flag  which  to  the  Irish  people  is  the  symbol 
of  tyranny  and  oppression,  can  never  be  changed.  That  flag  I  desire  to  tear 
down. 

It  has  been  said  we  had  no'  right  to  go  to  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  tearing 
it  down,  and  that  by  attacking  Canada  we  were  injuring  a  people  who  had  never 
injured  us.  Against  those  people  we  have  no  hostility  ;  we  have  no  hostility 
against  the  English  people  :  it  is  the  English  government  that  we  hate — it  u 
the  English  government  that  we  desire  to  fight.  It  is  the  flag  that  represents 
that  government  that  we  detest,  and  wherever  it  floats  the  Irish  people,  come 
weal  or  woe,  claim  the  right  to  pull  it  down  and  trample  it  beneath  their  feet. 
It  was  prompted  by  this  feeling  that  I  attempted  to  invade  Canada. 

As  the  matter  now  stands,  the  invasion  appears  to  have  been  a  ridioidous 
£Eiroe.    Had  the  attempt  succeeded,  it  would  have  been  otherwise. 

I  desire  to  say  in  conclusion,  that  whatever  may  have  been  my  opinions  here> 


J.  ^  iil  J,  iv^iUWfiiSf.' 


>'«'a«;t;*»i««^,>i 


r        I 


HI  i 


-Hi 


Official  Report  of 


tofore — and  I  did  believe  that  a  snccessful  attempt  conld  have  been  made  in 
thut  direction,  I  have  believed  it  for  years,  and  for  years  have  labored  to  bring 
it  about  -I  am  now  satisfied,  however,  that  any  farther  attempt  would  be  high- 
ly criminal,  because  there  is  not  the  remotest  chance  of  success.  If  there  were, 
though  I  might  go  to  the  gallows  to-mc^row,  I  would  tell  my  countrymen  to  go 
on  ;  bat  I  now  believe  that  there  is  not,  and  I  shall  therefore  advise  them  to 
desist ;  and  so  far  as  my  influence  will  go,  I  will  use  it  to  convince  the  Ir^h 
people  in  America,  that  any  farther  attempt  in  that  direction  would  be  futile. 
Had  I  got  out  on  bail  before  this  trial,  I  should  have  travelled  and  used  my 
influence  to  dissuade  my  friends  from  any  further  endeavors.  Unfortunately, 
my  Mends  did  not  understand  my  situation  in  time  to  bail  me  out,  else  I  should 
have  urged  upon  them  to  abandon  the  attempt,  and  to  abandon  it  forever. 
Though  I  shall  now  be  in  prison,  I  shall  use  whatever  influence  I  may  have  in 
that  direction. 

Apologizing  to  your  Honors  for  detaining  you  so  long,  I  will  conclude  by  re- 
peating, that  I  have  always  loved  the  laws  of  the  land,  that  I  have  always  been 
ready  and  wilUng  to  fight  for  them.  I  am  ready  and  willing  to  fight  for  them 
now,  as  the  honorable  wound  that  I  bear  testifies  I  was  in  the  past.  This 
shall  be  my  proudest  recollection,  and  perhaps  it  may  be  the  only  legacy  that  I 
shall  lepve  my  children,  the  fact  that  their  father  fought  and  bled  for  this  free 
lana,  which  has  offered  a  home  and  an  asylum  to  so  many  thousands  of  the 
homeless  and  persecuted  of  Europe.  It  will  always  be  my  pride  and  pleasure' 
as  long  as  lii'e  remains,  that  I  have  fought  and  bled  for  this  the  land  of  my 
adoption. 


'4»»' 


JUDGE  WOODRUFF'S  SENTENCE. 

Judge  Woodruff,  in  pronouncing  sentence  on  Gen.  O'Neill,  said': 
It  would  be  a  satisfaction  to  the  Court  if  they  had  learned  firom  the  observa- 
tions that  you  have  seen  fit  to  address  us,  that  the  regret  which  you  have  ex- 
pressed (in  so  far  as  you  allowed  yourself  to  appear  in  any  degree  in  the  con- 
dition of  a  repentant  criminal)  had  been  founded  upon  a  conviction  that  the 
offence  which  you  have  committed  was  a  wrong  ;  and  if  the  regret  expressed 
had  not  been  placed  upon  a  subsequent  discovery  of  the  fruitlessness  of  the 
effort  iu  which  you  were  engaged  ;  and  if  it  had  exhibited  in  some  higher  de- 
gree a  consciousness  of  the  importance  of  the  law  which  you  have  violated,  and 
a  respect  which  you  have  expressed  in  words,  though  disproved  by  a  deliberate 
disregard  of  its  injunctions. 

The  Court  cannot  suffer  the  importance  of  the  law  of  the  United  States  to  be 
depreciated,  which  is  designed,  not  immediately  and  directly  for  the  benefit  of 
another  government  or  another  people,  but  for  the  protection  and  maintenance 
of  our  own  good  faith,  and  the  preservation  of  our  own  people  from  the  evils 
which  result  to  them  from  a  disregard  of  its  provisions  ;  and  which  is  essential 
to  preserve  them  from  entanglements  and  embarrassments  in  their  intercourse 
with  others,  to  which  permission  to  violate  this  law  -^iii  impunity  would  most 
certainly  lead. 


f 


The  Attempted  Invasion  op  Canada. 


61 


Tou  have  b«eu  charged  with  a  Tiolation  of  the  law  whioh  forbids  persona  in 
our  own  territory  from  setting  on  foot  a  military  expedition  against  a  goTem- 
ment  or  people  of  any  other  territory  with  which  we  are  at  peace.  Yon  have 
confessed  your  guilt.  We  have  listened  with  a  desire  to  give  due  heed  to  what 
you  had  to  say  respecting  the  Judgment  of  the  Court  and  the  sentence  which 
yon  should  receive.  To  the  suggestions  that  you  have  been  misled  by  others, 
and  that  you  were  deceived,  we  can  give  no  interpretation  save  this  :  that  yoa 
were  disappointed  ;  that  instead  of  finding  a  force  adequate  to  secure  a  large 
measure  of  success  to  this  expedition,  and  a  support  in  men  and  supplies,  and 
needed  material  aid,  you  found  the  force  insignificant  or  the  supplies  deficient 
and  the  support  in  all  respects  inadequate  to  the  enterprise.  In  that  you  may 
have  been  deceived,  but  to  state  that  you  were  tliereby  deceived  is  only  to  say 
that  your  purpose  and  expectation  was  to  make  that  expedition  effective  to 
produce  all  the  evil  directly  to  the  country  invaded,  by  bringing  upon  it  the 
deoolation  whioh  war  always  brings,  and  incidentally  to  this  country  by  involv- 
ing it  in  the  cc ^plications  which  were  likely  thence  to  ensue;  bo  that  the 
avowal  of  your  disappointment  is  only  the  avowal  of  a  purpose  which  magnifies 
the  apparently  trivial  and  insignificant  endeavor  which  was  made  into  an  inten- 
tion- to  engage  in  an  enterprise  in  violation  of  the  law,  of  singular  and  great 
importance. 

The  Court  have  listened  to  the  history  of  your  services  in  behalf  of  our  own 
country,  and  in  the  maintenance  of  its  laws,  and  the  Court  are  not  insensible  to 
the  claim  which  that  service  gave  you,  as  it  certainly  did  in  the  first  instance, 
to  the  grateful  regard  of  the  government  and  people.  But  the  Court  cannot  be 
insensible  that  the  govenmient  and  the  people  had  a  right  to  expect  that  one 
who  had  professed  a  desire  to  maintain  the  laws  and  sustain  the  government, 
should  not  lend  his  skill  and  his  courage,  either  to  plan,  or  to  give  life,  energy 
or  enthusiasm,  to  an  enterprise  in  defiance  of  the  laws  ;  and,  insome  aspects  of 
the  case,  the  more  you  are  exalted  by  the  exhibition  of  courage,  of  military  skill 
and  successful  achievements  in  the  past,  the  greater  is  the  crime  when  you 
prostitute  that  skill  and  courage  and  achievement  by  making  it  the  instrument, 
or  cause  of  inspiration,  in  the  breast  of  others,  and  a  stimulus  to  them  under 
your  leadership  to  engage  in  hostility  towards  a  nation  with  whii.h  we  are  at 
peace.    It  thus  becomes  rather  an  aggravation. 

It  is  suggested  in  your  observations  that  yon  were  stimulated  by  a  sense  of 
the  oppression  to  which  your  countrymen  have  in  years  past  been  subjected. 
Any  real  or  supposed  wrong  of  your  country  or  your. countrymen  furnishes  no 
just  vindication,  though  it  may  in  a  sort  explain  the  insane  folly  and  wicked- 
ness of  making  that  the  occasion  of  suffering  and  wrong  to  a  people  who  are 
innocent  of  any  share  in  the  infliction  of  which  you  suppose  that  you  and  your 
people  had  cause  to  complain,  and  it  is  idle  to  say  that  not  intending  wrong  to 
them  you  simply  sought  an  injury  to  the  government  to  which  they  owe  alle- 
giance. You  have  come  into  this  court  and  ayowed  your  guilt.  The  demands 
of  justice  require  only  that  the  infliction  of  punishment  for  your  crime  should 
be  such  as  in  our  best  judgment  will  serve  to  deter  from  a  repetition  of  the 
offence,  and  as  an  example  to  prevent  others  from  believing  that  they  may  re- 
peat the  offence  with  impunity.  The  Court  may  take  notice  of  the  history  of 
the  past,  and  aware  of  the  leniency  with  which  this  offence  was  dealt  some 
years  ago,  we  are  apprised  that  we  are  now  dealing  with  its  repetition  in  your 


niilfrgai^iSita&fr^jBTivji'i.tei^sawaa 


H    '"'■■ 


02 


il 


Tqs  AmiiFTEO  Ihyabioii  or  Oaxada. 


The  Ooort  are  not  therefore  at  liberty  to  yield  to  «oneid«rfttioai  which 
Blight  otherwise  h&Te  infloenoed  ita  judgment  I  need  hardly  **y  that  to  thoM 
who  are  ohaiged  with  the  duty  of  adminietering  jostioe,  it  is  no  pleaaore,  >Qt, 
on  the  contrary,  a  pain,  to  adrert  to  oonaiderations  which  tend  to  anything 
like  eeTflrity^  They  would  be  pleaaed,  if  personal  gxattfloation  might  be 
indolged,  to  aoeerd  eren  the  extent  of  yow  request,  by  inflicting  the  lightest 
punishment  the  law  would  allow.  They  are  nsvorthelaas,  by  all  oonsidenk 
tions  ftSacting  their  adttons,  and  especially  kr  dealing  idtb  a  repetition  of 
this  oflbnoe  in  your  person,  constrained  to  niake  an  esanple.  The  sentence  of 
the  Court,  therefore,  is  that  you  be  imprisoned  in  the  State  Prison  of  Vermont 
for  the  term  of  two  years.  Bat  inasmuch  as  it  is  represented  to  the  Ooort  that 
you  are  not  in  a  situation  in  which  the  inflictian  of  a  heavy  fine  would  be  pro* 
dootive  of  any  otiber  result  than  the  probable  extension  ct  the  period  of  deten» 
tion,  the  Court  are  disported  o  make  the  fine  apninal.  The  statnte  reqnirat 
that  both  be  inflieted,  and  I  add  thereliBfre  the  MntanM  that  yoa  pay  a  fine  (4 
tan  doUan. 


i 


I 


t^.,^,^&feaSi^f- 


i«r»ti<NU  which 
ty  (hat  to  thoM 
>  plfiMOK,  >at, 
id  to  aitjrtbiiig 
tion  might  b* 
ing  thalighteat 
all  oonaidem- 
ft  repetition  of 
nie  Mntenoeof 
■on  ofyeniKmt 
the  OoortthAt 
would  be  pio> 
ariodof  deteor 
itetQte  reqains 
m  piqr  •  fin*  o| 


